


Red and Blue

by IAloneSurvive



Category: Dystopia - Fandom
Genre: Betrayal, Dystopia, Multi, Romance, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-04-06 16:20:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 59,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4228632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAloneSurvive/pseuds/IAloneSurvive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hokana Shiro has a lovely, lovely life.</p><p>Until it all goes wrong.<br/>After a bomb attack on her home, the capital of her country, Caobei, and the outbreak of a deadly virus Shiro finds her life thrown into chaos. Having lived under a communist regime for as long as she cares to remember the what she considers radical right wing capitalists are a big shock. Yet a bigger storm is coming and things are only going to get worse. A lot worse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unfolding Order

“See you later sweetheart!” Hokana Akane called to his daughter, Hokana Shiro, as she left the house to go to school. Frosty mornings were never pleasant, even though it had finally come into the fourth month frost still clung to the trees and of course to you, leaving noses red and colds a normality. Not that Shiro really cared, it wasn't like she was miles away so the morning's cold journey was about five minutes for her. Shiro was lucky, she was just in range, anyone coming in more than five minutes had to be personally picked up by a bus that sent round so that everyone was at school at the right time and there were strict punishments enforced if you did not, even for one day, arrive on time. Shiro shuddered at the thought of it and unconsciously picked up her pace.

 

Shiro wasn't exactly a dull girl but she wasn't super popular either, she liked sticking to the overly cliché heroin look without the top notch football team boyfriend...cos you know, people have them at thirteen, or at least think they do. She lived with her Dad, a single parent and now the secretary for the War minister. He had been the leading tactician in winning the war the world had been engulfed by twelve years ago and finally spat out again seven years ago but had settled for a simpler job after. His wife, a lovely woman who cared deeply about her family and friends and had backed her husband for the entire time, was killed in an accident not too long after so he put everything into raising his at the time six year old daughter. Shiro.

 

Appearance wise she wasn't much too look at in her own opinion, just average. She had dark brown eyes and brown hair that in some lights looked slightly tinged with red. In some classes she wore purple glasses as she was long sighted. She had no make up habits and usually left her hair down which was almost long enough to reach her waist and was usually a bit messy. She laughed like a normal person, she didn't mind her voice and she had a good understanding of sarcasm. She was just normal, but normal was good. Normal meant you were safe.

 

As she walked down the main road someone started yelling.

“WE ARE ALL IN DANGER LEAVE THE CITY” the voice screamed. She could hear them being dragged away, kicking and screaming, before the ominous snap of a gun was heard. Another one of the anti-government protesters, she was surprised there were any left. Her father, the infamous Hokana Akane, well known for his strategies while working in the war office, worked for one of the politicians attached to the ruling party so it's not like she was one of secret haters of this, frankly she found very little had changed other than the times people had to be at work and school and of course how much they were paid. If asked she would have said it was better, everyone was equal. They had picked everyone up off the streets and given them all a house, everyone got a car when they learnt to drive and the lessons were free. School was free, university was free, food was at a price everyone could afford because everyone got paid the same. It was good and not the “socialist wreck” that it had been proclaimed to be by the opposing government when the votes had been cast four years before. To be completely honest, a thirteen year old like her could just really not give a damn what happened, along as she was fed and watered and had her Dad around Shiro didn't care.

 

“Morning!” Called a voice when she got into school. As always, Chris, early as hell. Chris wasn't from the same country, she'd never been able to guess as he'd never told her and she was aware that several countries spoke English which had been enforced as the international language but her country had managed to keep theirs simply because no one was allowed in or out, however it was a subject that was compulsory. Shiro had given up trying by the time they got to their teens and usually lounged around in the classes half asleep, only really remembering anything that sounded funny or sounded like her own.

“Morning” she mumbled back, sitting at the table with him, head in hands, half asleep.

“Oh lighten up” he laughed, tossing his hair like the loser he was.

“Quiet, Dad kept me up trying to explain some maths function thing to me, I'm tired” Shiro replied, as grumpy feeling as she sounded, “and cut your hair one of these days, you look like an idiot.”

“Pfft, it's fabulous” he grinned.

“You're attracting too much attention” Shiro replied, sticking to monotone now. Chris didn't look like anything normal by default anyway. His skin tone was too light, his hair was blond (which only rich women who were members of the government had because they could dye it) and his eyes were a startling blue colour, again something that was normally achieved by contacts. However it did cross her mind that she had seen someone with blue eyes that morning, though she wasn't too sure.  
Just as the bell went at nine o'clock on the dot there was a lone drone over head followed by a million more. No one went to class and thus chaos began.

 

Everyone ran outside to see what the drone was and all gawked at the thousands of military planes over head.

“EVERYONE RETURN TO YOUR CLASSES NOW” screamed the voice of the Head Master but no one paid him any attention. Past the gates everyone could see soldiers marching too and fro with big guns and a rumble of tank could be heard not too far off.

“Look, that plane's slowed down!” Yelled one of the girls, pointing to the floating killer. As all 1500 students stared at the plane they watched it's belly open and something big and black speed towards the ground, causing an explosion that knocked them all to their knees. The street burst into flames ahead of them and true panic began.

 

“KEEP CALM! KEEP CALM” Screamed the voice of the Head Master yet again. Some how, and with a great deal of help things started to come under control. Yet it was only when the soldiers came to intervene that Shiro truly panicked. She had always been taught one thing to do whatever party was in: See soldiers run in the other direction and do not under any circumstances stop until you are safe. In this situation safe seemed to be outside of the city gates.

 

"We can't stay here" she muttered, grabbing Chris's hand and turning to run, he hesitated at first but saw the soldiers getting closer and immediately caught up with her. They walked cautiously through the school building, avoiding any windows that might put them on show to the rest of the school outside. Luckily they were only on one side so the next thing to avoid was the drones. This was, as they agreed, impossible because there were just so many but it was worth a shot anyway.

 

Shiro watched the door carefully, making sure that none were flying over head before they darted across the courtyard in the school and dived under a bench. Through the cracks in the bench they watched, 30,40,50 maybe even 60 drones fly over before they started hovering again.

“Shit” Chris muttered.

“No time for cover now they're going to drop a hell of a lot of bombs” Shiro replied, getting out from beneath the bench as quickly as she could, thwacking her head on the seat not bothering her one bit.

 

They ran and ran and ran, outside of the gates, through the now burning city. Some soldiers came round the corner as they went onto one of the smaller streets and they had to quickly hide behind one of the big waste bins. The reeked of wasted food but there was another, more unpleasant smell in the air. It was like a science lab after a dodgy explosion, perhaps after experimenting with some unknown substance that should have stayed unknown.

“Who's there?!” One of the soldiers called. Yet before an answer could be expected the bombs that were dropped on the school went off with a catastrophic bang. The explosion caused the glass around the two teens to smash and while, luckily, it didn't kill them a rather large shard embedded itself in Shiro's leg.

“Doesn't matter” she hissed, leaving it in as she knew it would clog the blood a little. She then looked up over the top of the bin, “they're gone, come on, lets go.”

 

More of the city set a light as they ran away from where they once called home. Neither of them was sure if home still existed, if their parents and friends were still alive. Neither did they understand how anyone could bring themselves to do this. The country was peaceful, no one interfered with the systems, everyone had everything they could ever need. So why had someone destroyed that? Why had the citizens been forced to pay the price for some political dispute? Did this person think they were saving them from the socialist hell that it had been rumoured to be? People were so strange...

"Trying to leave are we" grinned a soldier as the approached the road out of the city. Shiro screamed, suddenly realizing the horrible misjudgement she'd made and tried to pull Chris away with her only to have Chris torn from her grip.  
"NO! NO! NO!" She screamed, trying to grab for him as the soldier hurled him to the ground and kicked him viciously. When she was in range he kicked her, breaking her nose as his foot connected with her face. She screamed in pain and fell back. She could only watch as her best friend was dragged up onto his knees. A gun put to his head and the trigger pulled. Blood splattered across the walls and on her face and the soldier's legs.

She froze and shock completely reigned her mind. She remained practically unresponsive to anything, what was the need for it? She barely noticed as she too was pulled up onto her knees and the gun also put to the back of her head. She heard the shot but no trigger was pulled on her.  
"Come on kid, quit kneeling there and get up" snapped a voice as the soldier crumpled behind her. It was useless so she was thrown over a shoulder and carried through the city. Shiro's vision was some what blurred and all there was was dancing flames and silhouettes moving about frantically. Occasionally she heard gun shots but she paid barely any attention to what was going on around her. She was practically unconscious when she was tossed on a cart and the final thing she heard was,  
"Get 'em out before they're shot at!"


	2. Chi...yo

Someone tore the glass out of her leg, which woke her up due to the shock. She didn't scream it had shocked her mind and body, she just went to look.  
“Don't do that you idiot” snapped a voice, pushing her head back down roughly, “it'll hurt more.” Her vision was still a little cloudy but once it cleared she could see someone with some what serious features.  
“W-who are you?” She asked, attempting to place a hand on her forehead but missing and having it land behind her head. She left it there, it didn't matter.  
“Doesn't matter who I am” he answered, “just put this on, it'll stop you getting infected if you aren't already.” The man handed her a mask and she put it on without question making sure to avoid looking at her leg. When she looked round she realised that it wasn't just her, there were at least twenty other people on the cart all wearing the same mask. They looked like the ones you saw in war films that seemed to remind everyone of giant flies. They certainly looked like they came right out of the war films.

 

Once she'd got her mask on they made her sit up and sit on the side of the cart. It was an old wooden one that also looked like it was right out of an old war film, it was rickety and threw your stomach. She felt sick and it felt like her insides were tingling a little, like something was extremely slowly burning them away. Sat next to her was a woman who must have been around twenty. Her arm was up in a sling and the eye that Shiro could see was slightly swollen and purple. She could just see the iris of the woman's eye. A lovely hazel that was full of pure terror and betrayal. Across from Shiro was a boy, he must have been a year or so older. Though he seemed perfectly fine he was shaking and his eyes were red. When he noticed Shiro looking at him he put his hands on the back of his head and hid his face in his knees, the mask only muffled his tears.

 

Someone started coughing and everyone looked away. However the person ripping off their mask turned all heads. A splatter of blood hit the cart and the driver, the one who had torn the glass out of Shiro's leg, turned around. The person, an older teenager looked back at the man, terrified.  
“Please...no” they mumbled. The man lifted his gun and the woman next to Shiro suddenly covered her eyes for her as the man shot the teen dead. Shiro then hid her face in the woman's side, begging for more kindness from her. The woman stroked her back and twirled her long brown hair round her fingers as a way of comfort. Her Mother had done that for it when she was upset.  
“Oh dear Mother I'm glad you missed this.”

 

Some time later they were stopped, the abrupt stopping of the cart waking Shiro up from her sleep. How she had fallen asleep completely escaped her, the burning sensation that rested in her stomach was still there and the cart wasn't the most stable. She didn't open her eyes, she just listened. She noticed that the woman's grip on her tightened a little, most likely unintentionally.  
“Infected?” Asked a voice. It was gruff and loud, making Shiro squeeze her eyes shut and tense a little, the pain consuming her from the headache she still had.  
“Yes” the driver answered, the man who had driven them all the way here and shot the teen dead...did he work with the Government?  
“Good” the other voice replied. There was another snap of a gun and Shiro heard the driver slump. The woman holding onto her hugged her tightly and hid her face in Shiro's hair.  
“Right bring them through!” Yelled yet another voice. That was the fourth click of a gun that Shiro had heard that day but it was the millionth she'd heard in four years.

 

“Alright all of you, off now!” Yelled the voice of the soldier who had killed the man who drove the cart, “and take off all your masks now!” The woman holding onto Shiro helped her down as Shiro clutched her head, wincing as the pain became almost too much and it felt like her head was going to burst. The woman lifted off her own mask and then took Shiro's off for her.  
“I'm Chiyo” she whispered, squeezing Shiro's hand gently, “what's your name?”  
“Shiro” Shiro answered, still holding one hand to her head and only able to open one eye. The group were led into a big warehouse building that was now full of hospital beds.

 

The boy who had been crying suddenly started screaming and he fell to his knees, clutching his head and staring at the floor, his eyes full of terror. Chiyo let go of Shiro's hand and quickly went over, kneeling in front of the boy. She held his face in her one good hand and gently caressed his cheek, trying to bring him back to the present. Chiyo knew full well that he was having a flashback that was graphic enough to bring him to his knees.  
“Hey, hey, it's okay, you're not there” she whispered, hugging him. His screams gradually died down and he leant on her, crying silently again.

 

A shadow crept across the wall, tip towing along in silence. Another gun was pointed.  
“Chi...yo” Shiro whispered as another shot was fired and another life taken. Blood splattered and the boy's eyes went wide in shock. Chiyo collapsed on him and he was still holding her up, completely lost. He did not cling as they dragged her body away from him and did not protest when someone grabbed him by his collar and shoved him towards Shiro. She caught him and helped him stand on his own. They were then separated and marched along to their own beds. They had some kind of liquid forced down their throats that seemed to only increase the odd burning feeling that rested inside of them. It burnt and Shiro would have screamed in protest if she had the energy to. Her headache had only grown worse and the liquid...she felt so...so...tired.

 

A dream came to her as she slept. There was a bell ringing and everything was fuzzy at first, just white blobs that shivered in and out of view again and again. There was a bell ringing and everything was fuzzy at first, just white blobs that shivered in and out of view again and again.Gradually it settled. It was a lovely morning, the air crisp and clean like it always was...had been. The houses stood tall and glistening white in the sun which graced the Earth with no hindrance what so ever. Slowly the image faded, becoming black and grey and a burning, infuriated orange. The flames danced a vicious dance, engulfing building after building as Shiro turned in her dream to keep up. Soon screaming racked her ears. Terrible, terrible screaming. Skeletons ran out of the burning houses, some with only a fragment of skin left and others with blood pouring from their eye sockets and mouths.

 

Soldiers marched back and forth down the street. They did nothing to help the people, just marched up and down. Skeletons fell at their feet and were trampled underneath their expensive leather boots. There were both girls and boys marching over the skeletons, their faces gaunt and undernourished, forced into years of military service. One carried a stethoscope, another a pan, another a paint brush, all of them carried something in place of their guns. What they would have been. Not one broke the march. Not one dared to show remorse for what they did. That was prohibited, you dare try and leave the army you'd be shot for cowardice. So the skeletons fell beneath their feet and they could do nothing about it.

 

Someone grabbed her hand and pulled her from the dreadful scene of forced shells. She seemed to be running towards another white blob. Was it another terrible scene? No, this really was just lots of bright white light that seemed to be spinning. She finally saw who had grabbed her hand. Chris. He grinned at her and let go of her hand. In silence he ran towards the light but stopped when she did not follow and beckoned her to come with him. Shiro smiled and started running to him. He kept getting further and further away. Yet she seemed to conquer this invisible barrier that was pushing her back and soon caught up to him. Almost.

 

The soldiers came marching again. They did not have their would have been professions in their hands but they had their guns. Their guns. These too dripped blood and there was blood on their legs. Chris seemed completely oblivious to this and carried on beckoning Shiro. She could feel herself shaking her head and pointing and silently shouting about the soldiers but he paid no heed. The soldiers marched towards him but stopped roughly a meter away. One, a young man with nasty looking features, walked forward and pointed his gun at Chris. It fired and the soldiers marched on while the light faded, their march concealing Chris from view.

When he was visible once again he was a skeleton too. Blood poured from his eyes and mouth while his skin fell away like sand. There was a mild look of shock on his face as he stared back at Shiro. Each bone broke away. First his finger tips, then his hands and then his arms. As they fell they were reduced to dust and ended in a small heap on the floor. It was splattered with blood, his blood. All this time Shiro was running but the barrier was there again and this time could not be over come.


	3. Depatures

The first thing she did when she woke was sit up and scream. The moment had replayed in her head and had woken her. That dreaded awful moment. To her surprise, as she had expected a soldier to come and kill her, a lady ran over to her,  
"My dear are you okay?" Only she didn't understand, it was in a completely different language. Ah yes, English.  
"Awaay...Awaay..." she couldn't finish her sentence.  
"Ah, sorry" the woman said, swapping to her language, "do you know your name?" The Shiro nodded her head,  
"Hokana, Hokana Shiro. Have you seen my Papa anywhere?"  
"What's his name?" The woman asked.  
"Akane" she answered, "Hokana Akane."  
"I'll go and see if I can find him, you drink some of this" the woman smiled, handing her a wooden bowl of something. Shiro drank it without question and the woman left.

For what felt like hours she waited. She hoped and hoped and hoped that her Papa was still alive. Despite having drank the liquid she still felt light headed and her voice was light and dreamy. Her mind put it down to the shock of what had happened. Shiro covered her eyes as she cried, trying to keep quiet as she had noticed there were several other people in the room. If only she had stayed put, then Chris would still be alive, or they'd at least both be dead. Maybe she would be telling him to cut his hair again, it really had looked ridiculous. Stupid western fashion.  
"There, there" said a voice, hugging her. A familiar scent that smelled of home.  
"Papa?" She mumbled.  
"It's me" he answered, his voice also light and dreamy. The two clung to one another, their terrified minds glad to have found a familiar face.

They were allowed to share the bed as it provided more room. More and more infected were arriving every single hour, never mind day. There were no longer enough beds and many new comers were left on the ground, many giving up their blankets so they might have something soft to sleep on.  
“How long have you been here Shiro?” Akane asked, hugging his daughter gently.  
“Since yesterday” she answered, “did you see that woman...”  
“Get shot?” Akane asked, Shiro just nodded, “yes I did, you were with her then.” Shiro just nodded again before forcing some words out of her mouth,  
“She reminded me of Mother.”  
“Oh sweetheart” Akane mumbled, hugging Shiro to him tightly and kissing her forehead gently.

For days and days they waited to be set free from the huge hall, occasionally having to expel blood from their bodies in the most painful of coughs. It held at least a thousand other people in it, all just like them. All in shock, all coughing up blood and all infected. Around the room Shiro saw several people of interest. One man with an eye patch over one eye and a mechanical parrot that had to have it's beak taped as many people had complained of it's noise. A boy her age who sat the on bed they'd given to him, just hugging his knees and occasionally crying but only from one eye as the other was red and puffed up from infection. Another boy who was a little older, a year or so, who just stared vacantly the whole time with sad, sad grey eyes. It was the same boy who had been sat across from her on the cart. There was one thing that everyone in the room, excluding the boy with the puffed up eye, had in common. Everyone's hair had turned white.

On the day of destruction (or D-day as it had been nicknamed already, though it was hardly glorified like it's name sake was) the opposing government had staged an attack on the capital. The chemicals in the bombs they used had been new and much more deadly than they intended. They had reacted and become poisonous in the air, killing a lot of the population and many people had been infected with only small molecules so it corroded their bodies. That was the odd tingling feeling that Shiro had felt in her stomach. One of the other chemicals in the bombs had bleached all of the infected hair white. There was no explanation for this...yet. Though, it was understandable that they ignored that, as of what was happening. The death toll eventually averaged at twenty five a day and within the week many beds were empty.

The boy who still had his brown hair but a swollen eye seemed to have the same infection as everyone else but something was keeping it back. Over the days it ate away his eye, leaving a bloody and painful mess.  
"Papa, shouldn't someone help him?" Shiro asked, clinging to her Father once again, her voice still dreamy.  
"We can't my dear" was the only answer she got. After a through check up the boy was dragged away kicking and screaming at the doctors. Shiro vaguely wondered what he meant when he screamed about his eye. She couldn't understand him and besides, she had a headache still and he was being too loud.

When the boy was brought back no one could see his face, he hid it entirely in his knees while the slightest of sobs could be heard. Yet everyone had heard him screaming in protest before being reduced to silence. He had caused such a commotion that even the vacant boy from the cart had turned his head slightly. Sometime after when they were mostly quiet again the man who was now in charge of the country came to visit.  
"Papa, Papa, it's him" Shiro whispered urgently, tugging at his sleeve, shaking the book he'd been given from his weak hand. He looked over and suddenly pulled her close, watching the man with a sense of hate.  
"If he talks to us, don't say anything, let me do the talking and if he does talk directly to you do not tell him your real name, you are Shine not Shiro" Dad warned. Shiro nodded and turned over, hiding in his chest. This man stood not too far from them was the reason her best friend was dead.

He was a huge, terrifying man who towered above many people, including her Dad's old boss who was the tallest man she'd ever met. This politician had dark brown eyes with a dead expression that only screamed murder and control. He dressed in elaborate and clearly expensive traditional clothes in rich colours while the people he visited struggled day to day, many a time all too aware there probably was not next meal until two days after while he probably ate every night. Trailing him was a very young man, no more than eighteen, with very long purple hair and kindly blue eyes. He was almost beautiful. He was well dressed but had kept it to a white, very much toned down traditional way of dressing with only a purple set of sleeves. They had an odd way of dressing but never the less this man was beautiful, not almost, he was. His skin was practically flawless and probably had some kind of make up on it to hide any imperfections. Nothing seemed slightly out of proportion and his face fit perfectly. He wasn't...scary.

"Ah, Hokana Akane, you were the last person I expected to see here" the big politician said when he arrived at there bed side.  
"Please, be a little quieter, my daughter is still in a little shock" Akane replied, "she's had a headache since as well."  
"Of course, I understand" the big politician nodded, though he only lowered his voice a little and certainly not enough to stop Shiro's head screaming, "I have come to address you on the fact that your boss has agreed to join our party so when you are well again you will be working under us. I wish you well and bare in mind the consequences if you don't return to us."  
"Of course" Akane answered, putting a protective hand over his daughter's head gently. The big politician left them but the beautiful man stayed.  
"Give her this" he said, holding out a small bottle of something, "it should help ease her headache, they're giving it out to the people left in the safe city they've sealed off where we live now but I don't need it."  
"Thank you" Akane smiled. To his surprise Shiro turned around and looked at the man for a few seconds, seeming to be assessing him a little. She then reached out and touched his hand, which was resting on the end of their bed. He smiled and took her hand, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.  
"Hideo!" Yelled the big politician.  
"You'll have to excuse me" the beautiful man said with one last fleeting smile before quickly going after his boss.  
"He was nice" Shiro mumbled before turning over again and falling asleep.

A couple of days later after one of the check ups everyone was put through there was another visitor, only this time it was only for Hokana Akane. Shiro pulled the trick of pretending to be asleep when he came to talk to her Father. She was very good at it and it helped she had actually been asleep and had woken up just before he got to them. She had looked around with her eyes half closed before turning back and snuggling back into her Dad's side. It tricked him and Shiro got to listen in. She heard the chair scrape across the floor and heard it groan under the man's weight.  
"Is she asleep?" He asked in his deep, gentle voice. She felt Akane nod and he then asked,  
"What's wrong? Why did you go over to them?"  
"They killed my wife and threatened to kill my son" Shiro almost went stiff but managed to keep herself relaxed, though she did shuffle a little in her 'sleep' to show some discomfort. She had known Boss's family well, his wife had been a lovely woman and his son was only a few years younger than she was. Akane stroked his daughter's hair gently, a little absent mindedly, and listened as his boss explained.  
"The people who dropped the bombs were the Capitalists" he began, "you're going to be told that it was us. They've killed as many of us and those who were very loyal to the party as they could without arising too much suspicion. You've got to keep this to yourself otherwise they'll kill you and..." he stopped, "do you want me to call her something else?"  
"Shine" Akane answered.  
"Yes, well I refuse to lose the best tactician we've ever had. However...I'm starting to see a little good in this capitalism" he continued. Shiro felt Akane go stiff in irritation, "please, our poor existed and had it worse than they had under the capitalists before us, just use it as food for thought. Now, I must go I don't want to leave my son alone for too long."  
"Of course" Akane muttered.  
"Take this" the hand from Shiro's hair was gone as Boss handed something to Akane, "if you're well enough you have to go."  
"I understand, thank you" Akane mumbled.  
"Expect war. Stay alive Hokana Akane. We'll need your skills and for Christ's sake stay away from Goji and Hideo. They're dangerous." He then left.

"Hey, sweet heart" said a voice as someone shook her shoulder. She grumbled a little but opened her eyes,  
"What's wrong Papa?"  
"Nothing. They're going to check me over and I might have to go away for a couple of days. Okay?" He told her. She looked away worried and was met by a hug.  
"Be careful Papa" she mumbled.  
"It'll be alright" he smiled as he spoke, "they can't kill me off just yet." He pecked her on the forehead and a few minutes later was led away by a doctor.

Shiro sat 'twiddling her thumbs' for a while. She had attempted reading her Dad's book but that had proved pointless. It was one of the fantasy books she'd read dry by the time she was ten. She took to looking around and noticed there was still a blood stain on the wall where they had shot Chiyo. She then noticed that was where vacant boy was staring and had been for the past few days. She heard sobbing again and looked over to find it was the boy with brown hair. There was no one in the beds between them so she took the chance and crawled over them.

She shook his knee gently,  
"Don't cry" she said quietly, smiling a little. He looked up at her with his one eye. The other was gone...or rather a bloody red mess.  
"Go away" he replied.  
"Hey, that's not nice, I was only trying to help you" she grumbled.  
"You sound like you're six but you've got tits, act your age" he hissed back. She glared at him, turning away with her nose up,  
"If you're always like this no wonder you're crying all the time." He hit her arm lightly,  
"You're just not crying because your Dad's always so nice to you."  
"Maybe" she replied.  
"He's coming back by the way" he warned. Shiro darted back over to the bed she'd been in and waited.

"Alright, they've decided I'm well enough" Akane said, taking the book from the pillow, "I'll be in the capital for a couple of days but everything be okay."  
"Please be careful" Shiro mumbled.  
"I will don't worry" Akane reassured her, he then dug something out of the bag of possessions he managed to save and pulled out a book. It was a hard back and had the word for 'Legends' on it, "here sweet heart. It's one of the old books that got banned, it's just got one of the covers for another book on it. It's in English so it might be a little hard to understand but I think you'll enjoy it." He kissed her forehead gently,  
"Everything's going to be just fine, okay?" He smiled, resting his chin atop of her head for a minute, eyes closed with his arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders.  
"Okay" Shiro replied, hugging back and snuggling into her Dad's chest. He pulled away and smiled before leaving again, only this time for two days, not just an hour.


	4. Commies and Caps

"See what I mean" said a voice in her ear. Shiro jumped a foot in the air and quickly shut the book.  
"Mean what?" She asked, sitting up and hiding the book under the pillow.  
"That your Dad's so nice to you" one eye said, "you're very lucky."  
"Suppose I am" she mumbled.  
"Oh come on, there's no suppose about it. You are lucky. What is he, some government official?" He bugged her. She nodded,  
"Tell me your name or just something I can call you" she insisted, trying to change the subject.  
"Call me Data or Microchip. What about you?" He answered.  
"Shine" Shiro answered.  
"What, like Death?" He asked, looking rather horrified. She shrugged,  
"Papa told me."  
"Weird. So anyway, what does your Dad do then? I thought none of the Caps got hit" Data asked.  
"Be quieter" Shine hissed.  
"Ne, he's a commie ain't he" Data laughed. Shine glared at him,  
"Maybe."  
"Gimme me summit to call him" Data said, ignoring her.  
"Hanbei" Shine replied, vaguely remembering the History class she'd had on expert tacticians through history and how that particular one had caught her attention.

"Like Takenaka Hanbei?" Data asked, looking rather excited.  
"Yeah..." Shine mumbled, rather surprised.  
"I know everything about Samurai!" Data laughed, "he was Toyotomi Hideyoushi's tactician, though that wasn't his real name it was Shigeharu, and he worked along side Kuroda Kanbei, who's real name was Kuroda Yoshitaka, both under Toyotomi Hideyoushi and the Saito, the clan of Nou who was the wife of Oda Nobunaga whom Takenaka was said to hate" Data recited from memory. Shine just stared at him, blinking a little as she stared, dumbfolded,  
"I...I just picked it because I liked his name..." Data slapped a hand to his forehead but Shine could see a smile under his rough palm.

"Hey, you're still on the first page of that book" Data mumbled. One of the kinder women had him moved to the bed next to Shine's as they got on so well.  
"It's in English" Shine muttered, looking away, "I'm not very good at English so it's taking me along time." Data, without even giving it a second thought, climbed onto her bed and settled down next to her,  
"I know it, let me help. Then you can impress Hanbei with it!"

So they sat for hours at a time reading through the book. When everyone was awake Data forced Shine to say the words aloud which at first greatly embarrassed her because she couldn't pronounce the majority.  
"What...what does that mean?" She asked. Data burst out laughing,  
"Shit, it means Eo." Shine went almost the same colour as the Capitalist party's uniforms and refused to look at the book for a minute.  
"Oh grow up" Data rolled his eyes, "it's just a word, every language has one for it, well that I know of anyway. Just carry on reading." Shine apprehensively opened the book and carried on. The same woman who had got Data moved came to them at around eight o'clock that night and gave them pen, paper and a dim flash light. Data thanked her and then continued telling Shine the meaning of any word she pointed to, occasionally having to shrug when it came to more complicated words such as terrified, they didn't teach you words like that in classes. Eventually the two fell asleep next to each other, Shine with her head resting on Data's shoulder while he had an arm around her.

"Cute, aren't they" whispered the woman who had got them moved and given them pen and paper.  
"Reckon they'll end up married if they survive?" Asked her best friend.  
"No, I think the girl's going to go for someone else but the boy loves her already. I can tell" answered the woman a little sadly, "it would be nice if they did though."

It was raining for the first time in a while and Shine and Data woke up to the soft pitter patter against the roof. There were no windows and the massive room was lit by candles and, when they felt nice, electricity from the safe city which had be established as the capital. Today they weren't feeling nice. Though just as that thought came to Shine's head the lights flicked on. The few people left cheered, they had gone days without proper lighting. They cheered more when a huge van arrived, packed to the brim with food.  
"Who's that?" Data mumbled, looking at the man stood at the head of the room. It was the one who had given Akane the vial of medicine for Shiro.  
"That's Hideo, he's one of the Capitalists but he's nice" Shine answered, "he gave me some kind of medicine for my headache."  
"Lets go talk to him, you should thank him" Data grinned. He put the book, pen and paper under the pillow and pulled Shine with him.

"Ne, mister!" Data said when they got to him. Data was actually a lot taller Shine who had always been small, it became obvious as he almost matched Hideo in height.  
"Is everything okay?" Hideo asked. Data hit Shine's arm and contemplated giving her a shove if she didn't hurry up.  
"I...erm...Thank you, for the medicine" she mumbled. He smiled,  
"Nothing of it, you needed it, did it help?" Shine nodded,  
"My headache's gone" and she couldn't help beaming. It only occurred to her in that moment how much of a relief it was to be free of a continuous pain. It almost felt new to have such a clear head, she had practically forgotten. He smiled back and ruffled her hair gently,  
"I'm glad." One of the women then hurried them along back to their beds.  
"You're never going to wash your hair again now, are you?" Data asked.  
"Ew" Shine replied and they laughed.

They got back to their reading and Data once again forced Shine to read the words aloud.  
"He tried to run a..aw" she glared at the word. Data grabbed the bit of paper and wrote their symbol for 'I'  
"It's like awaay. It means...let me think about this. Pan tempti ha kunu mach" he explained.  
"Thank you" Shine mumbled and continued to read. She'd actually improved considerably since he'd made her read it aloud, Data could tell this was someone who learnt very quickly...if she cared.

"Learning English are we?" Asked a voice. The two jumped a little and looked up. Hideo was stood there with a gentle smile on his flawless face, "if you need any help just ask. I lived in one of the English speaking countries for a long time so I know a lot."  
"Thank you" Data grinned, "we're stuck on this word actually, could you help us?" Hideo came round and Data pointed.  
"Oh, that one...grumbled...grumbled...Bato, it means Bato" he answered after some thinking. They got through the book a lot quicker now they had Hideo helping. It surprised Shine that he didn't say a word about her having a banned book, even though he was one of the capitalists.  
"We must have this reprinted" Hideo mumbled to himself.  
"Are there really none left in government property" Data asked.  
"None that I know of" Hideo replied, "and there aren't enough to go around."  
"Would it really be allowed?" Shine asked.  
"Of course, what use is lying to our people...I just don't think we'll be opening up our arms to the world just yet" Hideo answered.  
"Why's that?" Data asked.  
"It's complicated...I don't particularly understand it myself" Hideo replied awkwardly, his cheeks colouring lightly. Data just shrugged and they went back to reading again.

Hideo helped them read until he had to leave.  
"I'll see if I can get you a Hitonara/Ennara dictionary" Hideo promised, "I should be back again soon. They demand a government official over see anything like this, I think it's ridiculous personally as I haven't the foggiest idea what's going on. You appear to be our cure Data, stay alive for us, will you?" Data sighed,  
"I wish I wasn't...I mean I want to help people but..." he didn't finish and bowed his head. Hideo smiled sympathetically,  
"I know but you're doing something for the good of the nation."  
"You sound like one of the commie bastards" Data muttered. Hideo laughed awkwardly,  
"Well, I'll see you again soon" he said before quickly leaving.

"You shouldn't have said that Data" Shine muttered.  
"So what, I hated them and don't like the Caps much either. Either way people like me end up poor but no one really cares because we're not in the bloody 1 percent like you were" Data snapped.  
"I'm sorry" Shine mumbled.  
"What?" Data asked.  
"I'm sorry" Shine repeated, "I thought everyone lived like we did."  
"You lived in Caobei?" Data asked. Shine nodded.  
"You don't know a thing commie grim reaper but I like you so oh well, what the hell" he sighed and they continued reading.

They once again fell asleep beside one another, the book nestled between them.  
"You sure they don't fancy each other Bidi?" Asked one of the women.  
"I'm sure. Boy likes her, she likes someone else" Bidi, the one who had given them the pen and paper, answered.  
"What do you think of that official then?" Her friend asked.  
"Very impressive for someone who's only eighteen" Bidi answered, "thought he was at least 20 though, don't you think he looked it Mora?"  
"He did indeed, he sure is a smartass for someone who's only eighteen as well" Mora replied.  
"True" Bidi nodded and they then went to bed.


	5. Blood

In the morning disaster struck.  
"You're paler than usual, are you alright Shine?" Data asked. Shine nodded but before she could even pick the book up she doubled up coughing. In a few seconds a great lump of blood tumbled from her mouth and splattered across her lap and the sheets. Only it didn't stop there. The more she coughed the more blood soaked she became until eventually she passed out.  
"Help her!" Data shouted at the Doctors who kept him well away from Shine.  
"We can't" one Doctor told him. He was tall and cold eyed, speaking with no tone and void of emotion.  
"Yes you can! Take my eye now!" Data shouted in protest, "you told me you could help everyone now. Just take the damn mess out of my head and help her!"  
"No" the Doctor replied.  
"Do it" warned a voice, it was gentle sounding but stern underneath, "don't deny medical attention when it can be given. If the boy is our key and is willing then do it." Hideo was stood not too far away. The Doctors looked rather apprehensive but eventually gave in to Hideo's glare and left Shine in the care of a Nurse while they worked on Data.

No anaesthetic could be given to him but Data did his best to ignore the agonizing pain that followed. He still yelled in pain and eventually they stuck a bit of wood between his teeth not only for him to bite to relieve the pain but also so they could concentrate. Out of his other eye, as he refused to look directly up, he could see Hideo sat by Shine who was shaking and pale. Blood ran from her lips and she just looked around. They had to keep her awake so she didn't choke when her body forced the blood out. While the nurse cleaned her up again and again Hideo was given the task of keeping her awake. He spoke to her in English and then asked her to translate, just to keep her brain awake because she had to think.

Soon there was a hole in Data's face. His eye was gone. To be precise it, or rather what was left of it, was lying on a silver tray beside the bed. It was behind his eye they were after. That contained the proteins that was keeping the virus back. They scrapped away all of the infected flesh, and some healthy flesh too, before they finally began. They wrapped bandages round his head to cover the hole before making off with his eye to create the cure.

Data crawled over to Shine's bed. She was barely conscious but still awake.  
"Hey look, I did it" Data smiled, "I'm gonna help you." Shine smiled very weakly and tried to reach up to touch his cheek but her arm fell. He grabbed her hand and lifted it to touch his cheek. He gently rubbed her palm against his face and smiled,  
"You're gonna be okay commie grim reaper" he whispered. She started coughing again and he and Hideo helped her sit up while blood dribbled from her lips. The nurse cleaned her up again and they lay her back down.  
"Thank you" she forced the words out of her mouth. Data smiled and squeezed her hand. A tear slipped from his one eye,  
"Come on, you've gotta live" he hissed as he realised she was too weak to squeeze back, "I don't care if you're one of the commie bastards, you've gotta live." His 'commoners' accent was showing prominently as he got more and more upset and more and more desperate for Shine to live.

All too soon Data was dragged away from Shine yet again. All he could see of her was tubes were being attached to her all over her body. One went down into her stomach through her nose and another seemed to be going into her lungs somehow.  
"What are they doing" Data asked Hideo, who happened to be holding the boy back.  
"They're curing her" he answered before putting a hand over Data's mouth. He was surprisingly strong and had a lot of will power as regardless of how much Data tried to get him off, even when he tried biting, it did not work.  
"Let me see my Daughter!" Yelled an angry voice, the angry voice of Hanbei to be exact.  
"Please be quiet" asked one of the nurses, extremely politely, "if things go wrong you'll never be able to see her again." Hanbei was silenced and stared at the gap where he could just make out her hand. It was pale. Much paler than usual.

Hanbei crumpled to the ground, holding his head in his hands. He couldn't lose his daughter as well. It had been remarkable that he had soldiered on when his wife had died. If he lost his daughter, he would not, in anyway, be able to just soldier on. He would rather join his dearly departed in no time than live with the pain of missing them. His glasses fell from his nose but he didn't try and catch them. Just let them fall. What use would they be anyway? What use was anything?

Bidi sighed sadly as she watched Mora help the doctors. It seemed very likely that her prediction had been wrong. The girl would not fall in love with someone else. She would die. The boy would be left alone for a long time. Despite it still technically being forbidden she took the rosary beads from under her clothes and prayed. She replaced the prayers with ones for the girls good health. She could not die. Surely God hadn't chosen it to be her time just yet. That felt cruel, no he couldn't have.

Eventually they took Shine away somewhere secret and the three sat together in silence. Data cried and cried and cried. Hanbei held him without question while Hideo occasionally shuddered and felt a rather intense anger with the doctors. How dare they try and refuse to help the girl.  
"It's her birthday today" Hanbei whispered, "she's fourteen. Why today, of all days?" Data just cried more when he heard this.  
"Fourteen? She's only a few years younger than me" Hideo mumbled,"She is very clever, she's learnt English very quickly. She could probably construct a sentence even though it's only been two days." Hideo kept putting an influence on the present tense part of the sentence, which belonged to how they said their verbs, in this case prolonging the ending. He did not dare make his voice any higher when saying them, that would make it past tense and, as they all hoped, a lie.

"What will you do Ak-" Hideo stopped midsentence and glanced at Data.  
"She called him Hanbei" he mumbled. His eye did not leave Shine. She was asleep, she was allowed to now.  
"What are you going to do Hanbei? Are you going to do as Goji asked?" Hideo asked quietly. Night had fallen but Hideo had bargained with Goji and been allowed to stay.  
"Of course" Hanbei answered, "I'll do anything to protect her and after hearing what happened to Boss...I don't want to risk it, I've already lost my wife."  
"Of course" Hideo nodded, "it's admirable as it goes so against the beliefs you have. I trust you hear of the rebels?" Data tuned in again when he heard the word rebels, he knew they'd be commies but he thought better of them than he did the caps, not that it was that much.  
"I have, they told me in the Capital. I was tempted to but...again, I want to protect my daughter, ideologies go out the window when I'm looking after her." Hideo smiled and nodded,  
"Completely understandable, this conversation with remain confidential."

"Might I ask one thing?" Hanbei replied, and he did so in a very low voice "seen as I'm taking up my role of tactician again could you tell me where the rebels are based?"  
"We're not sure but we think it's round the coastal area to the east," Hideo answered, "though I'm sure it'll change."  
"Thank you" Hanbei nodded, he then looked down at Data, who had taken to lying down, "oh he's asleep."


	6. This Is War

It took days for Shiro to be well again. Truly days. In that time, however, a proper vaccine was created and everyone was cured. Yet, for some, this was a terrible fate. They had no homes, no families to go to. Nothing at all. Vacant boy was taken on by the government. One eyed man and his parrot disappeared and Hideo returned to the capital. Then there was Hanbei and Shine. When she could walk again Hanbei woke her in the dead of night.  
"What's wrong?" She asked, tired, so very, very tired.  
"We're going now" Akane answered, "come on."  
"What about Data?" Shiro asked.  
"We can't take him sweetheart" Akane answered, wrapping his daughter in a thick coat they'd given him in the capital.  
"Why?" Shiro asked.  
"Just stop asking questions for now" he replied quietly, making sure not to snap.  
"But Papa, he's got no where to go" Shiro protested.  
"Shhh!" Akane hissed, glaring at her, "we need to go now."  
"What's the hurry though" Shiro looked on the brink of tears.  
"Just grab your things. I'll explain later" Akane sighed, he tried to kiss her on the forehead but she flinched away and picked up the neatly folded school blazer that lay beside her bed which contained various treasures that she never left without.

"Aren't you taking the book?" Akane asked. She shook her head,  
"Data likes it and he can read it better than I can."  
"I thought you were one of th-" he started. Shino cut him off however,  
"you were a Party member, they sweet talked the entire time." Akane got the hint and pulled the bag with their precious possessions over his shoulder. He then took his daughter's hand and they made their way out silently.  
"Bye Data" Shiro whispered as the door closed.

The night air was cold as it always was and would be for the next few months. It was also extremely quiet. At the slightest noise Akane would pull Shiro into the shadows.  
"Papa, what's wrong?" Shiro asked. She was scared.  
"Nothing, nothing, just paranoia" he answered, "here, I'll carry you." He crouched and let Shiro climb on his back. She'd lost a lot of weight since they'd been brought to the warehouse so she was very easy to carry. They'd done their best to fatten him up in the capital, which had been named Menoa, and he hoped they'd do the same for his daughter. If they got there.  
"Papa, where are we going?" Shiro asked again.  
"The train station. We're going to the capital" Akane answered, he gave her skinny, bony legs a gentle squeeze as she nestled her head into his back.  
"What's it called? Is it Caobei or did they give it another name?" She asked, her voice muffled.  
"It's called Menoa" Akane answered. He suddenly hid in an alley. Someone walked across the street, slowly and lazily.  
"No one here! No one here!" Squawked a mechanical voice.  
"Good. Polly wanna' cracker?" Replied the owner of the squawking bird. The bird nodded and squawked again. The owner fed it a small screw and then walked on. Just as he turned a corner Shiro recognised him. It was the man who had disappeared while she was ill.  
"Papa, tha-" she started.  
"Shh, come on, lets go before he comes back" Akane whispered. He then quickly ran across the street and through another back ally. Everything was fine.

Waiting at the train station for them was a familiar face.  
"Just in time" Hideo smiled as he pulled them onto the train and quickly shut the door. He hit a button as they sat down and they immediately started moving. Shiro was going to ask what all the hurry was but thought better of it and just snuggled into her Dad's side, listening as he and the 18 year old politician talked.  
"You were undetected I trust?" Hideo asked. Akane nodded,  
"We ran into a man with a parrot at one point but according to it we weren't there." Hideo looked rather confused and Akane added, "it was a mechanical parrot. It was the man who had disappeared when Shine was recovering."  
"Ah yes, I remember" Hideo nodded.

A catastrophic bang filled the air and the train lurched all of a sudden. Akane grabbed Shiro and held her close, stooping over her as the train lurched and tipped side to side. Tip. Tip. Tip. Tip. Hideo dived under the table and clutched the stand it was on tightly. If the train did tip then he wouldn't go sideways with it. Slowly, ever so slowly, it began to steady however no one stood up again until it had begun to move. Hideo was the first to stand up and looked out of the window, which was now illuminated with the gorgeous glow of bloody chaos. A look of regret crossed his face for a second but any kind of emotion faded within the next,  
"It seems we are at war."

It was very strange “Being at war” because nothing really happened. In fact, as far as Shiro was concerned, the war had started when they started dropping bombs on the capital a few weeks ago. Of course, the capitalists didn't believe this because they were told that the communists had dropped the bombs on Caobei and reduced the place to rubble and bodies. Shiro expected the train to be abandoned and they would be forced to journey to the capital in secrecy.  
“Hideo, now we're at war, shouldn't you think of a name for yourself?” Shiro asked. Hideo gave a awkward laugh,  
“Oh, Hideo isn't actually my real name so it's okay” he replied. Shiro shrugged and lay her head back down on her Dad's lap,  
“Hey, do I have to call you Hanbei now?”  
“You can still call me Papa though I suppose officially you do” he answered, stroking her hair gently.  
“Hanbei Takenaka. He was Toyotomi Hideyoushi's tactician, though that wasn't his real name it was Shigeharu, and he worked along side Kuroda Kanbei, who's real name was Kuroda Yoshitaka, both under Toyotomi Hideyoushi and the Saito, the clan of Nou who was the wife of Oda Nobunaga whom Takenaka was said to hate” Shiro recited word for word.  
“Okay they told me you flunked History class so where did you learn that?” Hanbei asked.  
“Data taught me” Shiro answered, she then yawned rather loudly, “can I sleep now?”  
“Yes” Hanbei answered, smiling a little.

It never quite passed into morning while they were on the train and once Shiro had woken up again Hanbei decided to go for a wander, just walking up and down the carts over and over, beginning to end. Shiro spent most of her time with her chin on the table, bored out of her mind.  
“What's it like? Being part of the government?” She asked, lifting her head a little. Hideo sighed and took off his glasses, he'd been reading a some book that seemed to be all of laws the country had,  
“Certainly interesting but at the same time exceedingly dull.”  
“How can it be?” Shiro asked. However Hideo returned it with a topic changing question,  
“Are you trying to take your mind off something Shine?” He asked. Of course...she wasn't Shiro any more, she was Shine. She nodded and nestled her head in between her arms on the table again,  
“Data.” Hideo gave a sympathetic look and patted her forearm gently,  
“I'm sure he's fine, Shine.”  
“I hope you're right” she mumbled.  
The train pulled into the new station at around four o'clock in the morning. It was still dark and Shine was still very tired.  
“Do you want me to” Hanbei stopped mid-sentence to yawn, “carry you again?”  
“It's fine Hanbei, I'll do it” Hideo said, picking Shine up straight away.  
“Oh...alright then” Hanbei muttered, a little surprised, he picked up their things and followed them.

“Ah! Hideo and I believe you are calling yourself Hanbei now” Big Politician called to them, he must have been waiting. Stood next to him was a beautiful woman who's silky black hair fell past her waist to her mid thighs while a little of it was pinned up by glass flower on top of her head and short bangs framed her face.  
“I am indeed” Hanbei answered, Shine stared at the woman who gave her a gentle smile and waved her petite hand. Hideo set Shine down and put an arm around her shoulders, she was a little wobbly due to fatigue. While her Father conversed with the Big Politician the woman stood by his side came over to Hideo and Shine.

“I'm glad to see you have returned well Hideo” she smiled, her smile was lovely, her teeth were bright white and a dark purple lipstick adorned her mouth, “I heard what had happened.” She then knelt to Shine's height, who was really starting to realise how small she was...that or this woman was just very tall, which she may well have been as she was barely shorter than Hideo,  
“What's your name?”  
“Shine” she answered, “I'm not being rude!” She quickly added, remembering how it may appear to someone, “that's the name Da- I mean Hanbei gave me.” The woman patted her on the head,  
“It's alright. I'm Sooki, that's not my real name either. I don't think anyone here is using their real name.” Shine nodded her head in agreement, “Hanbei” Sooki called, “would you like me to show your daughter to your rooms?”  
“That would be excellent, Sooki” Hanbei replied, a gentle smile on his face, “thank you.”

“Goodnight Hideo” Shine said as Sooki took her hand.  
“Goodnight Shine” he replied with a smile, waving a little.  
“Night Dad” Shine called to Hanbei, on hearing her he grabbed something and rushed over.  
“I forgot to give this to you” he muttered, hanging something round her neck, “Good night sweetheart.” He hugged her and then let her go again, rushing back over to Big Politician. Sooki gave a gentle laugh and then carried on leading Shine to the big house behind them.

It was huge, bigger than any house that Shine had ever seen. There were three stories but the house seemed to extend what looked like miles back. It was a startling white colour that seemed to shine alarmingly and dangerously bright in the early hours that remained dark. Most of the curtains were drawn and the lights off but occasionally you'd get a little pocket of life – silhouettes of people laughing and dancing or maybe a couple embracing.  
“Nice, isn't it” Sooki smiled at Shine's wonder at the big house. Shine nodded with a big smile on her face. Sooki laughed gently,  
“How tired are you little one?”   
“Very” Shine answered with a sigh.

Inside was much larger than it appeared outside and the hall ways truly did extend to what looked like forever.  
“I'm sure I could around this place for 20 years and never see the same room again” Shine mumbled, letting go of Sooki's hand for a second and spinning round.  
“You're probably right, I've never seen the same room twice unless it's somewhere I must go everyday” Sooki smiled, taking the girl's petite hand again, “we're having a ball tomorrow to raise everyone's spirits, it's no use having unhappy workers.”  
“A ball?” Shine asked, “what's that?” Sooki's face suddenly showed surprise and then realisation,  
“Ah, of course, they banned them. It's when lots of people get together and wear posh clothes and dance with each other and eat lots of food.”  
“Does that mean I could wear a proper dress?” Shine asked excitedly.   
“That's right” Sooki smiled in answer.

The room Sooki took Shine to was huge, in fact it wasn't just one room. There were three and one acted as another three on it's own. Two of the three were bedrooms, one for Shine and the other for her Dad, they were adjacent to one another and had a sliding panel in between. The third room had everything in it and was absolutely huge. There was a small table next to the window with two chairs and a laptop was on the left side. Shine made a mental note that that was her Dad's side of the table. Behind there was a wall that had a fridge seemingly built into it. Round the corner was an oven and a sink and at least 5 cupboards. Coming back round the entire wall of the “living room” was adorned with books. Shine spotted one immediately called “Hyou” and rushed straight over, taking it off the shelf and opening it. On the inside each page had the English with her own language written above.

Sooki gave a gentle laugh,  
“Hideo asked if we could find that for you, he said you were trying to read it but it was in English rather than Hitonara. Though you might still have it with you, do you?” Shine shook her head,  
“I left it for my friend back at the place we were staying in, though it was the place where the war “started” so I don't know if he's alive or not.” Sooki rushed over to the girl and hugged her tightly, stroking her long white hair and kissing her cheek, leaving a purple smudge,  
“I'm sorry Shine, I hope he's still alive, maybe one day he'll join us here.”  
“I hope so” Shine smiled, though she was definitely on the brink of tears, she then hugged the book close to her heart, her eyes tight shut before putting it back on the shelf.

“Alright” Sooki smiled, “your night clothes are here.  
“They're very pretty” Shine mumbled, unfolding them. They were a light pink colour and silk, shiny in the dim light from the low lamps. Sooki smiled again,  
“Well, pretty clothes for a pretty girl.” Shine got changed into the night clothes quickly, it was far too cold to lounge around a little as she did when she was at home. It was also incredibly awkward, something she wouldn't realise for about a year.  
“Who's your patron?” Sooki asked, tucking Shine in as a mother would.  
“Yvemis” Shine answered.  
“The God of Poetry? That's an interesting one” Sooki smiled, “did your Dad pick that or did you?”  
“I did, I wasn't very good at a lot of the written subjects at school but I was really good at that” Shine smiled. Sooki smiled as well, and pecked Shine on the forehead,  
“Sleep well sweetie.”

Shine certainly did sleep well. It was very peaceful in the rooms, not full of thousands of snores every few seconds. She felt no pain in her head or lungs as she had done and the dream did not come. The only disturbance was hearing her Dad open the door to check she was sleep and even then it barely woke her, just made her turn slightly. The bed she'd been given was very soft, unlike the rock hard ones in the warehouse. There were three very big pillows, even bigger than the ones that her Dad had had on his bed which, until the age of about seven, Shine could curl up on and she would not be touching anything except pillow. Tranquillity came with luxury in sleep and Shine certainly found herself renouncing her communist views just to sleep in such comfort.


	7. Wrong and Right

“Shine, sweet heart wake up” said a voice, gently shaking her shoulder.  
“Morning Dad” she smiled when she finally opened her eyes.  
“You must have slept well” he laughed, “it's taken me nearly half an hour to wake you up.”  
“I did” Shine grinned, “did you?” Hanbei nodded and patted her head gently,  
“Sooki sent us some stuff to make pancakes with, so get ready quick enough and you'll get some.” Shine immediately got up and pushed her Dad out of the room in an instant. In her draws was a dress, not quite as traditional as the one she'd be wearing later. It was a light blue colour and a thick material that was good for the cold months as it still remained.  
“SHOWER FIRST LAZY BONES” her Dad warned her before she could even think to start getting changed.

The shower was glorious. The shower they'd had never stayed warm and would occasionally become horribly cold, it was off putting to use. This one however: it stayed warm; was one of those that had a supply of soap, shampoo and conditioner inside it and had glass doors that did not allow any cold to get in. When she'd got out and put on her underclothes she noticed there was a filter that got rid of the condensation as there was no window in the room. She flicked it on, expelling a load whirring sound for about five seconds before the fan slowed and span at a normal rate. The dress was also much easier to put on compared to the one that she would have to put on later. The top layer was simple, all you had to do was put it around you like a big coat and then do up the clasps on the inside that were hidden. The second skirt layer was a little difficult as you had to make sure you didn't mess up the first when you put it on, occasionally it would pull it up and make it look messy. Finally was the darker blue ribbon, there just to make it look like the two pieces were the same dress. 

Shine got her pancakes as promised and spent the entire time grinning with happiness. However before she could go off and do anything else Hanbei sat across from her and asked a very serious question.  
"Shine, we are at war. I want to know, would you want to fight?" He asked. His eyes were screaming at her to say no, to never touch a gun or sword. He hated Goji and the last thing he wanted was for his daughter to be fighting for him.  
"I don't know" Shine mumbled, looking away, "I don't agree with what Goji wants but...everyone's going to expect to me to."  
"Well no-" he stopped when Shine gave him 'the look', "alright there's no use trying to lie to you. Yes, everyone is going to be expecting you to. Remember though, that is just an expectation, we don't always have to conform to them."  
"Can I think about it?" Shine asked.  
"Yes" Hanbei answered.  
"Oh that's fine then" Shine smiled. Hanbei shook his head with a smile and got up,   
"I've got to go and work so go and explore, just be careful, and only explore the gardens, okay?"  
"Okay" Shine replied, smiling back.

She listened to her Dad's warning and went only to the gardens as she had been told. They were very pretty, full of flowers that had only just begun to grow again after winter. They were all lined with stony paths that crunched under one's feet in a lovely melody. Granted they weren't actually the nicest thing to walk on when you had to wear little slippers with thin soles but it was worth it to look at the gardens. The sun was warmer than it ever had been and a lovely happiness surrounded everything.  
"Odd, isn't it" said a voice. Shine jumped and turned around to see Hideo smiling at her. She smiled after getting over the millisecond of shock,  
"Nanma, Hideo" Shine laughed, her cheeks a little pink.  
"Nanma, Shine" Hideo smiled back, "though I dare say it is Nanhe now. Come inside, it's almost lunch."

"What were you saying was odd before?" Shine asked as they walked back up to the big building.  
"That everything's so happy but we're at war" Hideo answered "and a civil one at that." Just as they turned a corner Hideo grabbed Shine's hand, "ah ha, lets go the other way through the back, then we can see what's for lunch before everyone else." However he had not saved her from the sight. There were two rows of prisoners being marched round the building, most of them about Shine's age. That was the main reason they were prisoners, they were too young to be killed but 16 and over was bang bang.

Hideo hoped that lunch may take her mind off what she may or may not have seen, well that was the case as far as he was concerned. In the big hall where the ball was to be held later there were two very long tables, facing one another. One of them had all the important people; Goji, Sooki, Hanbei and several others; while the other had (mostly) teenagers. Shine instantly felt awkward, even when Hideo told her where to sit. It just so happened to be right next to "vacant boy" who did indeed still have a rather dead expression on his face.

Shine felt like being nice and, while they were eating, asked if he was okay. She got no answer. Shine asked his name. She got no answer. Shine asked if he was going to fight. She got no answer.  
"You know maybe if you talked to people you might be a little happier" she mumbled irritably, it was rude but her patience had been tested considerably. He shrugged,  
"What's the point?"  
"So you can make friends..." Shine answered trying not to show she was thinking 'yes, got him in a conversation' in her voice.  
"Pfft, who needs friends" he replied with a rather heartless laugh.  
"Everyone" Shine answered.  
"No, I don't, that's not everyone" the boy corrected her.  
"Why? What so you have against erm...humanity?" Shine asked.  
"Life sucks and I don't want to get too caught up in it" the boy answered.  
"That's a ridiculous reason" Shine said, genuinely sounding horrified. He shrugged,  
"I'm Hyou" he finally answered.  
"That's your code name, right?" Shine replied, "I'm Shine." Hyou snorted,  
"Death? How many friends have you managed to make with....oh it's you" he suddenly remembered that she had been the girl who had been with Aunty Chiyo, "thanks, I'm fine now."  
"That's good" Shine smiled.

Hyou started treating Shine with a little more friendliness after he realised who she was. He was a year older than her, though he looked at least two years older, and had the same patron God as she did.  
"Funny, I never thought I'd meet anyone with the same one" he mumbled, "did you ever believe any of it." Shine shrugged,  
"Guess I did when I was little. I got to wear Shrine clothes a lot because my Mum's sister was a priestess until she ran off with one of the monks." Hyou laughed,  
"I love those kind of stories. There was no one in my family who ever believed any of it except my Granny. She was a scary woman which is the only reason I have a patron God at all."  
"Sometimes it's a good thing, it can leave you more open minded" Shine suggested. Hyou just hummed.

After dinner Shine choose to stay in her family rooms. She didn't feel like going outside. Not if she might see them again. It was all wrong. Everything was wrong. It struck Shine in the chest repeatedly, making her heart ache. They were at war but it was like nobody cared here. Only a few hours ago she had been consumed only by the thoughts of wearing a pretty dress. There were people out there fighting. People her age. Children. It didn't matter if they were thrown under the banner of teen they were still just kids. They didn't have a nice home any more. Some wouldn't have any family any more. In the future some would give everything to one person only to be stabbed in the back in vicious reply. So many people were going to die. They didn't need this! They didn't need war, it was pointless, useless. It did nothing. It does nothing. It will never do anything. It all became a little to overwhelming for Shine and she ended up slumped in a chair, eyes closed with the heels of her palms on her temples. She didn't cry but she definitely choked on tears that were trying to escape. Couldn't everything just go back to how it was? She knew from what Boss had said that they did have their poor but...they could scrape by couldn't they? They could still live, couldn't they? 

However another memory corrected that thought.  
“So what, I hated them and don't like the Caps much either. Either way people like me end up poor but no one really cares because we're not in the bloody 1 percent like you were!”  
The memory of what Data had said to her reminded her that people could not live. There was a very obvious difference between existing and living. Yes people could exist but they could not live, they didn't have every day meals, some of the kids didn't go to school because they had to carry on working in the mines. Then again being the 1% looked empty as well and Shine found herself also hating how she was living now. Yes she'd had stable meals and an education but she wasn't strictly in the one percent but the people here definitely were. Shine wondered if it nagged at the back of their minds? Did it wake them at night? Just how privileged and lucky they were? Did they even know?


	8. Layers

“Shine!” Called a voice. Shine jumped and quickly rubbed her eyes, even though no tears had actually fallen.  
“Come in” she replied. Sooki opened the door and smiled at her, Shine noticed straight away that she wasn't wearing any make up what so ever, her skin was a little darker than it had appeared and she had a spot or two here and there. Sooki gave her a grin,  
“You alright honey, something bothering you?” Shine shook her head and stood up,  
“Everything's fine, how are you?”  
“I'm fine, I'm fine, no need to ask” Sooki smiled, “well, time to get ready.” Shine smiled brightly, if there was one thing she was okay with it was the excuse to wear pretty dresses. It was a little vain but they had been cheap as the north had a thriving industry in clothes and most people had at least one so it was justifiable to an extent. Just as long as it wasn't...over worn.

“Through here, through here” Sooki laughed, seemingly just as excited as Shine was. She took Shine through the small door in the bathroom to another small room, this had the bath in. It was more like the normal baths unlike the super high-tech showers. After setting the water off Shine got undressed behind a screen while Sooki rushed in and out. First with towels. Then with various toiletries. Then with clean underclothes. By the time she came back with these Shine was in the bath, almost up to her neck in bubbles. Sooki laughed,  
“Comfortable there misses?” Shine giggled and nodded. Sooki smiled back and dressed down to her black vest and thin skirt of the same colour which served as a second layer of underclothes. She then sat on the side of the bath and started washing Shine's hair for her.

“You have lovely hair” Sooki mumbled, “what colour was it before you got ill?”  
“It was brown with little bits of red in it” Shine answered, “Sooki what does your name mean?” Shine had suddenly switched to all shades of curiousness.  
“It means Unknown Name, I thought it would be the easiest way to hide my real name” she answered, “eyes closed.” Shine clenched her eyes shut as a great water fall fell on her head, soaking her hair, head, face and all. Sooki quickly dried her face before any of the stray soap could get in her eyes before carrying on.  
“That makes sense. I don't think my name was meant to mean anything, Da- I mean Hanbei”  
“You can call him Dad you know.”  
“Dad just seemed to have come up with it on the spot. Now everyone's calling me death” Shine sighed.  
“That's not too bad” Sooki replied, “maybe if you become one of our soldiers and you get good enough then it'll make you sound more scary.”

The subject was quickly abandoned as Shine had to get into her dress. Once she was wrapped in a towel Sooki pinned her hair up for her in a bun and dried off the back of her neck and then tying that towel around the bun so it could soak up more of the water. Shine then quickly got into underclothes, they were white but honestly it really did not matter, the dress had three layers for the top and seven for the skirt. Each layer's colour had a particular meaning and your age dictated how many layers you wore. In Shine's case she had 7 different colours but when she turned 16 she would have only 5 but then 10 on her wedding day, if she had one of course.  
“Cream, for appreciation” Sooki smiled, doing up the clasp at Shine's hip. That was the first layer.  
“Yellow for friendship, every girl needs a good friend.”  
“Orange for Enthusiasm and for those who have lack of.” It changed a little here as the skirts no longer had a top with them so there was no more clasp at the hip. It as one big bit of material with a clasp in the middle.  
“Peach for gratitude, one of our virtues.”  
“Pink for a touch of sweetness, a woman may know no bounds with this.”  
“A dash of Lavender for charm, hand in hand with sweetness is many people's downfall.”  
“Finally white, the colour of innocence and things most pure, the greatest virtue.”

The final touch was a dark red sash that would hide the clasps on the outer skirts.  
“It appears” Sooki sighed, “that however much we may teach men not to go into unwanted territory they will do so repeatedly.”  
“What do you mean?” Shine asked as Sooki took the towel off her head and unpinned her hair.  
“It seems that however much we tell men to keep their hands off our gender unless we agree they will always persist” Sooki sighed, separating Shine's hair so she could brush it in sections, “it's a shame really, lots of them are terribly nice but some are just...well disgusting. Anyway, how has your first day here been Shine? You made any friends yet?”  
“I think so...you know Hyou, he seems to erm...not mind me, I don't know he seems to hate just about everyone” Shine answered.  
“Hate's a little strong Shine!” Sooki warned her, “more, indifferent. A lot's happened to that boy and it's not the nicest thing to have on your mind all the time, be a little nicer.”  
“Sorry” Shine mumbled, going a little pink.

The final part was make up, it was very light as none of the some what ridiculous beauty standards were even allowed to apply to Shine yet. In a way she lived in an ideal world. Everyone got an education, the government had made sure of that as no one was allowed to work until they were eleven and there were rigid checks on mines and homes, making sure all children were in the place they were supposed to be. Everyone got an equal pay, though adult's could be cut down if they had a lot of children who were working so they didn't go too over the top with the whole “lack of equality” providing they were indeed making enough money. Shine realised she could probably gone on forever about how the world she lived in was ideal but what Data had said to her struck her once again. Shine was now more than positive that many a bribe had been taken so children could work because the family were too big and the adult's pay had been cut. She remembered the Shanette family who had a boy in Shine's class, except he hadn't turned up since they were at least seven. It appeared to Shine that for every ideal value there was a lie entwined with it.

Compared to Shine Sooki only took an hour to get ready, though she had already washed to be fair. She also had only three layers in total compared to Shine, though you could say four as the top was a different colour and piece to the skirts. The top was white while the top layer of the skirt was dark green, the second blue and the underskirt was black. The sash that went round the middle was also white, hiding the little clasps that held them all together. Sooki's hair didn't need much doing to it either, she could easily get away with just letting it flow, it was so long that was all that was taken notice of. Her make up too was much the same, although her lips were no longer the dark purple they had been but now a dark red, not too dissimilar to the sash around Shine's waist.  
“You look very pretty Sooki” Shine beamed. Sooki laughed and patted the girl's head lightly, making sure she didn't disturb too many strands of hair,  
“Thank you, you look just as so, little one.”

The Big Politician decided a new rule that night. Every ball was to start with dancing. The only ones allowed to dance were those who were over the age of sixteen. To begin with parents (or someone standing in as a proxy) would walk round in a circle clock wise five times and then anti-clockwise five times with their children. They would then be “given,” for want of a better word, to their husband, wife or betrothed. There had been a lot of engagements all of a sudden, everyone wanted to get married before they got shot or accidentally went against the government by returning to a habit instated by the old one. Either way it meant death.

“Nice isn't it” Shine mumbled, watching the young couples dancing together. Lots of them looked very happy, one particular pair, a man with hair that could be described as “duck butt” shape hair and an androgynous person (Shine wasn't particular sure if they were a man, woman or neither), looked the happiest that she had ever seen anyone. Ever.  
“Yeah, whatever, they're just kind of weird if you ask me, the two you're staring at” Hyou replied dismissively, “not right as far as I'm concerned and before you ask, I've met them, they're both men.”  
“All I want to know is where duck-butt gets his hair product from” Shine snapped, almost clocking Hyou on the back of the head but instead throwing him a dirty look. Hyou just rolled his eyes,  
“You're just like Aunty Chiyo, bloody liberals.” Shine just chose to ignore him.

Food was next and Shine was sure she had never, ever, ever, ever, ever seen so much food in her entire life time. It wasn't that the tables were lined with plates and plates of different varieties it was that there were just so many people in the room. Shine momentarily forgave Hyou and asked,  
“How many people do you think are in this one room?”  
“I don't know, maybe 500, 600” Hyou answered.  
“Whoa” Shine mumbled.  
“Watch what you're doing idiot! You almost tipped your drink on me” Hyou snapped, grabbing Shine's wrist and straightening it.  
“Oh, thanks” she mumbled, going red.  
“Why have you gone so red?” Hyou demanded, adding in a mutter, “weirdo.”

After food Big Politician stood up and declared that people were welcome to dance once again and added with a laugh “if you are all up to it, of course.” Many people did indeed get up and start dancing with each other again, not just adults (16 was the official coming of age) but many of the teens as well.   
“Oh, fine” Hyou sighed, holding out his hand to Shine, “will you dance with me?” Shine stared at him in surprise, she hadn't even said anything about it, no pestering or bugging, no nothing.  
“Erm...okay” she answered, taking his hand and letting him lead her to the centre of the room. They mimicked the adults, as the other teens had done as well, Shine put one hand on Hyou's shoulder and held his hand in the air while he had his other on her waist. She noticed then that, although they were a little bloodshot from lack of sleep and a little expressionless, Hyou had really, really nice eyes. They were hazel and dotted with green. No they certainly did not look healthy and Hyou did not look happy but Shine was positive that if he was then his eyes would be even more lovely than they were now.

Once they were done dancing Hyou and Shine retired to the red seats than ran along the corners. Shine was tired from dancing and eating too much and, much to his discomfort, lay her head on Hyou's shoulder and closed her eyes. He didn't stop her to be fair, she was less annoying when she was asleep so in a way he still won in a sense. She did eventually fall asleep and ended up snoring lightly on his shoulder. Okay maybe he wasn't winning any more. Still, it didn't really matter as Hanbei, the tactician and Shine's father, came over to them.  
“How long has she been asleep for?” He asked, he was a very gentle man. The first time Hyou had seen him he was an extremely frail man who appeared to have been starved but he had put some weight on since and now looked quite healthy.  
“About ten minutes” Hyou answered, letting Hanbei pick his daughter up, Hyou would have been surprised he could do such a thing if his daughter wasn't almost as skinny as he had been.  
“Thank you...” Hanbei trailed off, “forgive me, I don't know your name.”  
“Hyou” Hyou answered.

“Dad?” Shine mumbled, half waking up as someone tucked her into bed, she was only in the bottom layer of white now.  
“Hey Shiro” he smiled, running a hand through her hair gently.  
“Can you call me that?” She mumbled, her eyes half closed as she clutched the covers in her hands.  
“Here I can” he answered, “get some sleep honey.” She nodded and he kissed her forehead gently before going to the door.  
“Hey Dad?” Shiro asked. He turned back to look at her, the door half open, “are we going to be happy here?”  
“Yes, yes we are, now get some sleep, I'll be in the next room if you need me. Nanhi Shiro.”  
“Nanhi, Papa” she smiled before finally settling down. Yes, they were going to be happy, even if it went against everything they believed in, they were going to be happy because that was the easiest way to live.

Except it wasn't.


	9. Decisions

Balls were not a frequency but certainly the same amount of food on tables certainly was.  
“If I eat this much all the time I'm going to end up the size of a whale” Shine sighed on one particular evening.  
“Yes and if you don't now you're going to end up being a twig, I thought you weren't allowed to apply any “beauty standards” to yourself yet” Hyou snapped, “now eat your cake idiot.”  
“No need to be like that” Shine mumbled, picking at the cake.  
“No need to be so stupid!” Hyou replied, “if you don't eat that bit of cake I swear...”  
“Okay! Okay! Calm down nut job” Shine said in surrender, rolling her eyes and putting a bit of the cake in her mouth.  
“Hey! What did you just call me” Hyou demanded. Shine had no time to answer as blinding light suddenly filled the hall and it was coupled with a deafening bang. It shattered the glass into a million pieces and sent it flying about the room as if a swarm of deadly insects who took joy in burying themselves skin and other organs a like.

Hyou, acting the cheesy hero, threw himself over Shine as he was still wearing the vest they had to wear for training. They were thick and made so that it was difficult for swords to cut through. The glass stuck in his back rather than hers, which in comparison was practically bare. Once the glass had stopped the Big Politician stood up and yelled instructions.  
“Get all the women and children who aren't fighting down to under ground passages!”  
“All soldiers report to the training grounds immediately!” Sooki rushed over and started ushering out the teens but Hyou was going the other way.  
“Where are you going?!” Shine yelled at him over the commotion.  
“I've got to fight, ain't I” he replied. Shine grabbed his hand and dragged him back, “oh hell no, you are not going out there.”  
“I have to Shine” Hyou replied, trying to tug his hand from Shine's, “let me go!”  
“No” Shine snapped, grabbing his arm as well, “you're fifteen, stop being a complete idiot!”  
“Stop trying to be some kind of weird hero Shine, I'm going whether you like it or not!” Hyou finally managed to wrench his hand and arm from Shine's grip and ran off before she could grab him again.

“What are you still doing here little lady?” Asked a voice. Everyone had since cleared from the hall and Shine had hidden under a table. She had missed her chance to follow Sooki in trying to stop Hyou and Hanbei was already out, trying to survey the area and come up with a plan without getting shot, not an easy feat at all. The birds that had been singing their evening tune had been replaced by the music of bombs, gun shots and the eeriness that always surrounded situations like this. Shine took the chance, hoping it wasn't an enemy, and peeked out from under the table. It was the person who she had seen dancing a week or so ago, the one who she was unsure of the gender of. They smiled and knelt, holding out their hand which was encased in a white glove, “come on, I know the way to the passages.” Shine gingerly took the person's hand and let them lead the way.

“Careful, careful, don't catch yourself on the glass” the person warned, doing their best to help her. Shine wasn't in traditional dress so it was easy to move around but her height was not helping. The glass scratched her leg but she ignored it and pretended her leg wasn't stinging. The smallest cuts hurt the most.  
"Stay close to me and the wall, okay" the person instructed her, taking her hand. Yet Shine was frozen. She could see them. The soldiers fighting, the bullets being fired, the swords being swung. Her father had always called war an art but this was far, far from art. Too petrified to look any more she buried her face into the person's chest.  
"Shh, shh" they mumbled, placing a gloved hand on her head, "everything will be okay." They prized her arms from around their waist and knelt, hands on her shoulders, "I'm going to get you somewhere safe and I'll stay if you want me to. I know you don't like fighting but you've got to be brave, okay?" Shine nodded, rubbing her eyes, "good girl, that's all you need, a little bit of bravery." The person stood and took her hand again, slowly leading the way as the world seemed to explode around them. The person shot someone because they had been aiming for Shine,  
"Trying to kill a child, filthy bastard" she heard them mutter under their breath.

The person was very tall and wore all white, the only exception being their family seal on their arm. It was a small flower in a sky blue. They were currently wearing a mask to cover their mouth and nose but Shine had seen their face before. They were very pale, much like Shine, and had the most startling blue eyes that Shine had ever seen. They were very bright and full of happiness and love and everything you could ever wish for. They could make anyone long for friendship with this person, just because they'd know how to make you smile and laugh so hard you'd end up on the floor, holding your stomach. It was just one of those people who you knew was good.

When they suddenly stopped and shoved Shine behind a wall she got a nasty shock as she collided with the adjacent wall but shook it off.  
"There's a gassed area up ahead so you need to wear this" they muttered, yanking off their mask and tying it round the back of Shine's head so it covered her nose and mouth.  
"What about you?" She asked, her voice muffled by the cloth.  
"I'll be fine" they answered, picking her up, "we'll be out of there in no time. Close your eyes, otherwise it'll burn them." Shine clenched her eyes shut and locked her arms around the person's neck, hiding her face in their cloud shoulder. It was as white as a cloud and as soft as one might expect. She could feel them running, their legs accidentally banging against the very tips of her toes.

Shine could feel her hands burning as they ran through the gas cloud, they were the only bits of skin that remained uncovered. They seared and it really felt like they were on fire. They must have passed through the gas cloud because all of a sudden the person was stumbling and eventually collided with a wall, crumpling. Shine quickly got up to see if they were okay, ignoring the brief knock to the head she had received. She quickly took off the mask,  
"Are you okay?" She asked hurriedly, shaking their shoulder. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. The person suddenly brought up what they had eaten for dinner and spent a couple of minutes just clutching their stomach.  
"I'm" they stopped to breath, leaning towards the grass as the air was fresher, taking desperate gasps "fine."

It felt like forever while the person who had helped, risked their very life for her, sat against the wall. Why had they bothered with her? She certainly didn't come under the classification of child simply because she was wearing her own family crest (a small bird) which was something you acquired at fourteen and red was hard to miss against white. Maybe they had seen her desperately trying to stop Hyou being a complete idiot and had felt sorry for her, still that seemed very much out of the ordinary and highly unlikely. Shine, amidst her thoughts on why, remembered that she had a very small bottle of water in the little bag that was attached to her hip. While cursing herself for not thinking of it she scrabbled over, asking,  
"Does water help?" She got a nod and quickly got the small bottle out. She hadn't used any of it as there had been enough to drink at dinner. It came as no surprise when it was taken from her hands swiftly and all of it disappeared within half a minute. 

After another few minutes the person stood up, using the wall to steady themselves. They blinked a couple of times and Shine handed the mask over, they took it but tied to back around Shine's head.  
"You need it more than me, I'd rather they didn't recognise your face" they smiled a little before taking her hand again and once again leading the way. The fighting had certainly died down now but it was by no means over. There was a man surveying the very small area they needed to get by to get to the tunnels. There were two options either kill him and get across, which would probably alert others, or to try and sneak past, dealing with the likely hood he would see the entrance to the tunnels.

"You're going to make a run for it, okay?" The person said, "I'll stay back and get rid of him if he sees you, then you're safe."  
"But you said you'd stay" Shine protested, grabbing their arm tightly. She was trying to guilt them but it seemed to be for the best, as far as she was concerned she was technically guilting them into not dying.   
"It's better if I stay" they sighed, "then, if they see you then I can stop anyone finding out where the tunnels are, even if they find out he's dead there will be no one to tell them where you are."  
"But...but...but" Shine couldn't form a coherent sentence and wasn't even sure what she wanted to say so instead just hid her face with her palms pressed against her closed eyes and her head bowed.  
"It'll be okay" they smiled, pulling her hands away from her face, "you just go down to the tunnels and everything will be fi-"

The person suddenly slumped, their knees buckled and their eyes suddenly lost all of that happiness and love and everything you could ever wish for. They became somewhat more light grey in colour and empty...so, so empty.  
"Hey, hey, wake up" Shine mumbled, shaking them as their chin collided with her shoulder, "wake up." She knew exactly what was going on but point blank refused to accept that it had just happened. Those eyes were not empty. They were alive.  
"What tunnels" asked a voice. Shine chanced looking up to see a very tall man with very shiny but nevertheless yellow teeth shown in a broad grin. A sinister, sinister grin. Shine, loosing all self control, tore the gun from the person's holster and shot the man within the blink of an eye. A nasty recoil shivered through her arm as the man crumpled. Just as he did two white flares went off. The battle was over.

"SHINE" yelled a voice but Shine did not even notice there was anyone there until they collided with her and started asking far too many questions that eventually muddled into one, "are you okay? Are you hurt? Can you hear me? Do you know I'm there? Shine? SHINE?!" Shine eventually collapsed onto this second person's shoulder, dropping the gun, wrapping her arms tightly around them and sobbing.  
"I'm sorry Hyou, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" she managed to choke out before erupting into another flood of tears and burying her face in his shoulder.  
"Come on idiot, lighten up" he mumbled awkwardly, rubbing her back, vaguely remembering that's what his mother had always done for him and his brother. Shine just continued to wail with such a force she was only just muffled by Hyou's shoulder.  
"Oi! Hyou, what's goin' on?" Shouted another voice, "get back here, we've got to get back to ba-"

"YOSH" Screamed the same voice, followed by the sound of food steps crashing against the hardened earth. There was a thump as they dropped to their knees. The scream had surprised Shine enough to reduce her tears to sniffles and she managed to look up. It was the man she had nicknamed duck-butt, though now her knowledge of the people around her was a little better she had found out his name was in fact Togo. He was desperately doing the same she had, shaking the person, Yosh's shoulder and asking them to wake up.  
"Serves them right if you ask me" Hyou muttered under his breath, intending that no one heard. Shine heard. She turned and stared at him for a second before punching him square in the jaw.  
"No one deserves that" she yelled at him, she'd hit him hard enough to split his lip and knock him to the floor. Hyou merely gaped at her, in a state of shock. Shine had punched him in the jaw for, what he felt was no reason what so ever. Although if you switched sides it was clear that Shine had punched him in the jaw for all the right reasons.

"Togo" Shine said, leaving Hyou to continue staring at her back in surprise and now severe dislike. Togo was kneeling, staring at the gun in his hands. Shine had no idea how but she immediately understood what he was intending to do and rushed over, snatching the gun from his hands and tossing it aside. It did go off on impact with ground but the bullet buried itself in a tree, never to be seen again. Togo meanwhile looked up at the girl and stared at her.  
"What are you doing?" He asked. Togo was only graced with a weak shrug in reply before being hugged tightly round the neck by the girl. It was surprise after surprise for him as he didn't hug back straight away but when he did it was just as tight. Instead of questioning her this time he just whispered his thanks to her and then cried into her shoulder.

"Shine, there you are!" Called a voice. It had been quite some time since the end of the battle. Togo was carrying Yosh's body while Hyou was looking soar at being punched in the jaw for all the right reasons. Shine was staggering a little and holding her arm, the ripple from the gun still seeming to be there. Sooki rushed over to her and hugged Shine,  
"What happened to you? I thought you were with us in the tunnels. I was so worried."  
"Sooki, I'm fine, honestly" Shine answered, even coupling a gentle laugh with this. She was by no means fine but she was trying to comfort the woman.  
"HOKANA SHINE" snapped a very angry voice. Hanbei rushed over, practically snatched his daughter from Sooki's arms and hugged her just as tight. It was by no means what Shine had expected but it was by all means much better than what she had.  
"Never do that again, okay?" Hanbei snapped affectionately.   
"Okay Dad" Shine smiled, again forced but clearly comforting as her Dad finally let her breath again.

Yosh was buried the next day. The original intention was that he was buried with everyone else they had lost but Togo had made a special request that he do it himself at night. Shine, who had over heard this request, snook out of her room that night and went down to the now much larger cemetery. To say it was night was a little incorrect as it was in fact four in the morning but Shine never paid attention to such details. She also stole a lily from the gardens before going down. When she found him Togo was sat at the newly dug grave, muttering to himself.  
"Togo" she mumbled, though it was heard loud and clear in the silent air. He jumped and turned around before beckoning her over. She walked over, placed the lily down on the earth and then sat next to Togo.

"I'm sorry" she sighed, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them.  
"You don't need to be" Togo replied, "these things happen."  
"I'm the one who should be giving comfort, not you" Shine muttered, resting her chin on her knees, reading the stone over and over again. Yosh was only nineteen.  
"You've given me enough just by stopping me yesterday" Togo reassured her, glancing at her momentarily.  
"Were you the same age?" Shine asked, abruptly changing the subject.  
"Yeah, only a week between us actually" Togo answered, "people always seem to die so tragically close to their birthday. Thanks for hitting Hyou yesterday before I did it myself. He was only with me to annoy me."  
"Sorry about him" Shine sighed with a small smile, "I can't stand him...well, okay, now I can't stand him."

"So, what are you going to do anyway?" Togo asked, "they're going to want new trainees starting soon."  
"I'm going to fight" Shine answered. Togo genuinely turned and stared at her,  
"What? Really? Even after what happened yesterday?"  
"I've already killed someone, there's no use turning my back on that now" Shine explained.  
"But you don't have to just because you killed that man" Togo warned her. Shine sighed. No, she hadn't felt bloodthirsty since yesterday, such a thing was unknown to her. She wanted to fight. Killing the communist made her realise how much she wanted to protect the people close to her, it wasn't about ideology, Togo and Yosh had proven that to her. It was about love and friendship and everything you could ever want.  
"I'm going to fight because I want to protect everyone. I don't care if you're a cap or a commie, because who ever's in power there's always the ones who end up poor, I just want to protect everyone close to me."


	10. A 3 Year Change

"Alright, who wants to challenge me!" Shine yelled with glee, holding her sword out towards the large group of trainees.  
"Ha! Who's afraid of the girl in Qipao and leggings?" One of them laughed, doubling over in clear exaggeration.  
"Is that a challenge" Shine asked with a gentle smile, "surely if you're not scared of me you can beat me in a second." Shine was not a "weedy short ass" as she'd been called any more. She had grown to 5ft 7, towering over her friends and only shorter than her father by an inch. She'd also developed impressive muscles on her arms and legs that could match many of the men's, certainly staying true to the declaration she had made to Togo 3 years before. On the mental side of this she really did only want to protect people and often attempted to not let it bother her whenever she was fighting that the war was over ideologies.  
"Alright then, I'll challenge you, little lady. You owe me your lips if I win" he agreed. Shine laughed a dainty laugh,  
"And you owe me a "never acquaint yourself with women again" if I win." The man laughed,  
"Stupid girl."

He drew his sword and lifted it. Shine did nothing, just let her own sword dangle by her side. The use of guns in training other than shooting practice was strictly prohibited and killing a fellow soldier (comrade was a banned word) meant death. He swung and she stepped back, dodging it with ease. He swung again and she stepped back again. He took a stab at her side, she stepped the other way. He was getting frustrated now. His moves got faster and more precise as his anger increased. So, he was one of those. Shine was giggling and laughing, enjoying herself perhaps a little more than she should have been. He took another desperate swing and this time she blocked him. He thought he had won then, he thought he was stronger than Shine. Maybe he was of body in current comparison but of mind? Absolutely not. Just as he began to over power her Shine took her sword away and stepped back. He took a good stab at her but she slipped to the side, kicked him back and sent him sprawling. Just as he got up Shine put her gun to the back of his head, she was renowned for breaking this rule and had been warned several times by the Big Politician, or Goji as he had finally decided on,  
"Have a nice lonely life sweet heart." She turned around and then turned back immediately, clashing swords with the man. She winked, kicked his sword hand and walked away.

"Shine...I don't know whether to call that admirable or plain foolish" Hideo muttered, he had been watching from the hill with amusement. The training grounds were the bottom of a bowl of green grass that was currently a little yellow, summer had come and the sun beat down on their backs day in and day out. It was lovely after the freezing months of winter...that was until it too hot for them to handle or it rained and became horribly humid.  
"Nanma Hideo!" Shine called with a laugh as she walked up one side of the bowl.  
"Nanma Shine" he called back, "lovely morning isn't it."  
"Too hot" she called back. He laughed,  
"Nothing's just right for you, just wait until midsummer!"  
"You know me all too well" Shine replied with a smile. When she reached him she kissed him on each cheek, as was customary when greeting someone who wasn't family but was considered as close,  
"Happy Birthday Hideo."  
"Thank you" he replied, a gentle smile on his face.

Not only had Shine changed but so had Hideo. He hadn't grown much granted, his height had settled at 6ft 2" when he was 17 but he had put a bit of weight on his skinny frame and his face was a little rounder. He also still dyed his hair purple which attracted the most attention. Hideo was the only person who dared do such a thing. Even though it had been a while people were still scared to stand out, something that had felt forbidden and certainly been a taboo when the Communists had been in. All this attention made him the heart throb of all the women and girls and Shine occasionally found herself thinking the same things they were, much to her embarrassment. Aside from physicality Hideo had also been promoted considerably higher up the ranks. At first, when he was 18, he was just taken on because he was bright. Now, at 21, he ran the army. Everyone had war experience as the Rebel's numbers were just as explosive as the Government's and he was renowned for being able to conduct huge brigades without trouble. However everyone seemed to respect him to some degree. He wasn't a "stuck up toss pot" as some of the others were but neither was he too soft.  
"Man, you've changed" Shine mumbled.  
"To be fair, so have you" Hideo replied, “and where did that come from, it was very out of the blue.”  
"Guess so and I don't know" Shine shrugged.

"Look at the state of you girl" Hanbei tutted when she came into their rooms. All of the Government officials lived in this one place, this one huge house. It had been an agreement between the rebels and government that neither of them would attack the other's base. It had arisen when the old Government base had been attacked at the very start of the war, even before Shine and Hanbei had been cured, and lots of civilians had been killed. Immediately regretting what he had done the leader of the rebels, one eyed parrot man who had been given the nickname Mechanic as he was a technology wizz, had sent a treaty to Goji and it was signed as soon as it arrived. That didn't change they were still at war.

"What about me?" Shine asked as she took off her shoes and put on her fancy slippers that fitted snugly round her feet, leaving her filthy outdoor shoes on the small rack.  
"Look at you! You're filthy" Hanbei answered, "you're very lucky that you've got more than one outfit that isn't too formal otherwise you'd be a sorry sight at the General's celebration!" She shrugged and picked up an apple from the fruit bowl, munching on it without a second thought.  
"Whatever, I don't really care" she said through a mouthful. Hanbei tapped his daughter on the nose with the book he was reading,  
"You're eighteen in half a year, act it. Also I care, I'd rather you didn't show me up in front of the entire government body." She rolled her eyes and just carried on eating her apple, “and don't roll your eyes at me!”  
“Sorry Dad” Shine mumbled, trying not to glare at him. He still treated her like a child even though legally she was an adult and it drove her up the wall.

As soon as she'd finished the apple she was marched off to her room to get ready. She showered in one of the utterly glorious showers. It had everything. It dispensed body wash, shampoo and conditioner of a wide variety of scents and the water never went cold. The floor was heated and it was completely closed off so it never got cold. Complete and utter bliss. Then, after drying off was to get into her formal-casual ware for the night ahead. It was a long, red Qi pao with white flowers on one side of the skirt. It was a little loser so if she spun around it would twist with her. She then curled her hair and made up her face.  
"You capitalist pig Hokana Shiro" she laughed to herself as she looked in the mirror. Still, she was sure she could remain this vain regardless of what happened.

 

“Come on slow coach!” Hanbei yelled at his daughter.  
“Give me a minute! You know, beauty standards can be applied to me now, I thought you didn't want me to show you up” Shine replied from behind the door.  
“Well get a move on, honestly if you didn't wear the make up no one would care” Hanbei replied.  
“Yeah, well I like it so I'm putting it on” Shine answered.  
“For someone who's killed a good few people you're very girly” Hanbei pointed out, this was kind of childish but what he'd said was indeed true.  
“I can kill a man but I can't clean his kitchen” Shine replied, “no social expectations for me thank you.”  
“But you just said about beauty standards” Hanbei reminded her.  
“And I said I like wearing make up” Shine snapped back, clearly a little irritated that her dad had completely missed the point. She got no reply, either his pride was damaged or he was having to run over the whole conversation again.


	11. Attack

As always every gathering like this it began with dancing. Hanbei and Shine walked in the five circles, smiling as always. Sooki walked in the five circles with Hideo, also smiling as they acted as proxy family for one another. The two pairs bowed and then turned to the other pair. Sooki and Hanbei placed Hideo and Shine's hands together, bowed to the two, and then left for the head table. Hideo slipped his hand round Shine's waist and held her other up while her free hand went to his shoulder, spinning together slowly.  
"You look beautiful" he smiled.  
"It's almost a crime for you to be as handsome as you are" she replied, returning the smile.  
"Who knew you could be so polite" Hideo laughed quietly. He let Shine's waist go and spun her round again and again, the final step in the dance, he saw her glaring at him playfully. As the dance ended, as everyone else did for their partner, Hideo pulled Shine to him and kissed her.

"Whoo hoo! Hittin' it girl" Cari laughed, hitting Shine's arm as she did. Cari was a sub commander of a brigade under Shine's command and the two had become friends not too long after they'd been introduced.  
"Oh quit it" Shine replied, sitting at her Father's side.  
"You got to kiss the General, there's no "quit it" about it" Cari replied, sitting on her other side.  
"It's just part of the dance" Shine hissed, she then brightly thanked her Father as he put some pork dumplings on her plate.  
"I reckon he fancies you" Cari grinned.  
"Ha ha ha that's creepy" Shine rolled her eyes as she spoke.  
"Oh no it's not, you're both adults" Cari reminded her.  
"Yeah, I'm also four years younger than him" Shine countered with.  
"You're still adults" Cari repeated. Shine gave up then, Cari was just one of those people who you could not argue with.

"Hey, he's staring at you" Cari whispered, nudging Shine's arm. She looked over and indeed Hideo was staring at her. He went scarlet and looked away.  
"Erm...I....I....oh dear" Shine muttered, turning back, also going red. Cari giggled,  
"You fancy him don't you? I mean come on, you're red as a beetroot right now."  
"No" Shine replied. Still a little pink she looked out of the window, intent on avoiding Cari's accusations any further. However it seemed that something seemed to be going on though that drew their attention from the art of happening to think someone else is pleasantly attractive and them thinking the same of you.

A blue light shot up into the sky but seemed only Shine saw it as she was staring out of the window to avoid Hideo's eyes. As soon as she saw it she got up silently, walked round the back of the table and whispered in Hideo's ear.  
"The rebels are attacking, we can dine no more."  
"Are you sure?" He asked, turning to face her, a rather worried look on his face.  
"I saw the blue spark" she answered. He sighed and looked away, closing his eyes for a second and massaging his temples,  
"Go ready your brigades then, send a message on the coms if you can." Shine nodded and left while Hideo stood and announced what had happened.

Shine ran to her room first and grabbed her pistol and sword. The dress could stay on, she could still run in it, though she did change her shoes to her outdoor ones. She then pulled on the big black coat she'd been given that had her family crest on the back so they knew which side she was on. If she wanted to intercept anything on the other side she just had to turn it inside out. Both sides had equal weapons and if she made her accent a little rougher (people from high up weren't common place in the rebels) she passed easily. White haired people were common place everywhere but they had mostly congregated to the rebellion's base. She didn't quite like calling it the rebellion understandably, she was more on their side than her own. No, that mustn't bother her now.  
Knowing no one else had done it she ran to one of the com points (they were small speaker systems that were connected to every single room) and pressed the button so it said transmission on the little screen.  
"All units to the training grounds now. We are under attack roughly 5 kilometres away from outside base." She then flicked the button back and pressed it in so it said receiving. She then put on the glasses and head set and ran to the training grounds herself.

Waiting already were her three brigades with their sub commanders at the head. Goji, Hideo, Sooki and Hanbei were stood at the head of the army.  
"We must fight! For the freedom of the people!" Goji cried, lifting his sword in anticipated triumph. Momentarily Shine, found herself thinking of Data. What had happened to him? Had he been killed by the explosion when the civil war had been declared? Was it the case they had been unknowingly fighting each other for the last year, almost two years since she started taking part in proper conflicts herself? She shook her head, no use thinking of him either.

"Are you alright?" Asked a voice. She jumped and turned to see Hideo stood beside her. Hanbei had already left, scouting from the highest point they had, attempting to get a good view of the attack points without getting shot.  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine" Shine answered, she wasn't sure if she was lying or not.  
"I know you hate this" Hideo sighed, "I'm sorry."  
"Don't be" Shine replied, she took Hideo's hands and brought them up to her chest, pressing them to her heart, "this must beat for some reason." Hideo looked away as he squeezed her hands before letting go, only to kiss her on the forehead,  
"Stay alive, Hokana Shine." Shine also spotted Cari giggling at them and would have thrown her a glare if it wouldn't make so obvious what was being giggled about.

Hanbei returned around ten minutes later with a well thought out plan.  
"They appear to be attacking an abandoned city" he started as he worked over a map of the base and surrounding area, "they'll be pillaging for food and other supplies no doubt, abandoned is a far too loosely used word these days. They're trying get a kick out of us but if we don't respond then they'll only advance and surround us, they'll starve us out if they won't break the treaty."  
"So we have to attack?" Shine asked. Hanbei nodded,  
"Like I said, if we don't they've starve us to death. They have reinforcements here and here" he pointed to two points either side of the city, "Hideo I want Togo and Camari to take care of those two as quickly as possible, ambush them if they can."  
"Got it" Hideo nodded, "will you need us in the city?"  
"Perhaps, there seems to be more than usual" Hanbei nodded, "the three main brigades are here. Goji I need two of your brigades here and the other two here" each point was roughly 300m from the centre, "Shine I need two of your's here. Shine half of one of yours will act as back up for these two while the other will attack the final reinforcements here, they're a small group so I want you to personally over see this.”  
“What? Why?” Shine butted in, she wasn't supposed to but surely she should be keeping an eye on the bigger part of her brigades.  
“Hyou can manage them on his own” Hanbei answered. Shine wasn't too impressed by this, neither of them had really forgiven each other since that had happened.

Once all the information had been relayed back to the troops and sub commanders everyone ran to their posts.  
"Be careful, Shine" Hideo warned. He grabbed her arm and kissed her softly, "remember what some of the opposing side do. Don't get yourself captured." She shuddered just thinking about it,  
"Please, stay safe Hideo" she mumbled. She leant up and kissed him while her chest ached with worry and love. Hideo returned the kiss and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and lifted her up a little. Huh, so Cari was right after all.  
"I will, I have no intention of dying on my birthday" he said this with a casual laugh and then left, gun and sword now in hand. Shine sighed and then turned to face her Father. He nodded to her, they were the last brigade to go out. They went out on the firework that signalled the government were counter attacking. All of a sudden Hanbei grabbed something off the table, tore off the top, lit it and launched it into the air. It carried on moving and then exploded in a flash of red. The Government were now counter attacking.


	12. Witty Remarks Will Get You Nowhere

The route they took to get to the small brigade was through a maize of streets, twisting and turning, as to avoid the attention of any other brigades that, while engaged, were much bigger than the half that had, they'd be wiped out if they came into contact with any of them alone. Any civilians they found they ushered into homes and stragglers from the rebels they killed. They couldn't take any prisoners much to Shine's annoyance, they didn't have enough people to keep any, so it was only a one sided choice. However there was one Shine let go.

She kicked the kid back and walked over to him, pointing a sword at his throat. He stared at it and was horrified to find he had no means to escape as he was backed against a wall.  
"How old are you" she demanded, bringing the sword a little closer.  
"Th-th-thirteen" he stuttered.  
"Did you choose to fight for the communists?" She asked, her voice had softened slightly and she drew her sword away a little. The boy shook his head and started crying. Shine sighed, sheathed her sword,  
"Go on, runaway, you clearly don't want to be here." This proved to be her downfall.

Just as they were about to reach where the brigade was said to be, a little altered from the start which they had been alerted to by Hanbei, they were attacked. They had taken 20 lives. Only one survived. Shine.  
"Cari!" She shouted, running to her best friend's body. She stopped midway when she saw that kid at the head of about thirty five men. Her facial expression remained one of pure horror and shock before she turned and bolted.  
"I've got to survive. I can't die now" she whispered to herself in urgency as she ran away.  
"Shine! Shine! What the hell is going on?!" Hanbei yelled at her through the headset.  
"Why are you asking me, you can see it" she snapped back as she ran, continuously glancing behind her. Stupid old man.  
"Why are you running away" Hanbei demanded.  
"I can't fight 35 men on my own!" She shouted. Hanbei fell silent.

Shine tripped and fell. This was her genuine down fall, in all sense of the words, as the rebels caught up in but a few seconds.  
"We got a pretty one here" laughed one of them. He put his foot on the small of Shine's back so she couldn't move. Another took her weapons,  
"Aye, we did. Prisoner I think, she's too pretty to waste on death, young too." Shine tried to kick and struggle, at much pain to her back, but it was useless. The man who had taken her weapons placed his foot on the back of her head and she froze, barely able to breath,  
"Just because you're pretty doesn't mean we won't break you" he hissed, he then looked up at his partner, "come on, lets go before anyone else finds her." He grabbed the glasses and head set and crushed them beneath his feet.

They quickly cuffed her and dragged her through the now empty streets. The fighting had stopped, the two white fireworks had been shot up signalling the end. They took her to the rebel commander. Mechanic, the man with mechanical parrot.  
"Well, well, well" he laughed when he saw her, he actually got up and walked to her, "a communist gone bad, what do we do with you?" Her headset was gone so she could say what she wanted,  
"Just because I fi-" she stopped mid-sentence, partly because she was sure it wasn't going to help and partly because she spotted a familiar face. Mechanic smiled,  
"So you know him do you?" They brought him forward and placed a gun to his head.  
"T-T-Togo" she mumbled. Mechanic's smile broadened to a grin,  
"Start talking or we'll shot him. Do you have weapons of mass destruction?"  
"I don't know" Shine answered.  
"Oh come on now darlin', you're high up in the ranks, like we believe that" Mechanic continued to grin, showing he was missing a couple of teeth. He started pressing the trigger.  
"I don't know!" Shine protested again, she was definitely telling the truth as well, "I don't know! Just let him go!" After what had happened to him three years before Shine was determined that Togo was not going to die in such a similar manner.  
"Is this man dear to you in anyway, perhaps a lover?" Mechanic asked.  
"No, he's just another soldier" Shine answered, lying this time, "but please, just let him go."

"If you dare tell them where she is we will find you and kill you" Mechanic hissed in Togo's ear before letting him go. He ran away but looked back once to see Shine's eyes begging him to tell them. He didn't know if he could. He was a coward at heart and always had been.

To her surprise they let her walk oddly free. Granted keen eyes were kept on her but no gun was pointed at her or any true threat made. Yes she was still their prisoner but it was relaxed.  
"We know who you are" Mechanic explained, "you're a fierce communist forced to work for the capitalists." Shine chanced letting out a gentle laugh,  
"You knocked the nail on the head." Mechanic smiled,  
"So, why have you stayed with the Government? You're not eighteen yet so you can't be married, have they engaged you to someone yet?" Shine shook her head,  
"I just want to keep my friends and family safe...I suppose I have fallen in love with someone but I wouldn't call him one of the radical capitalists either."  
"What do you mean?" Mech asked, rather confused.  
"He doesn't like the whole controlled police thing sure but he prefers good health care and stable income for everyone over a high up poverty line" Shine answered.  
"Interesting, interesting" Mechanic mumbled, "you say you've fallen in love with him?" Shine nodded again,  
"He's a lot older than me though..." Mechanic laughed,  
"You're both adults, love knows no number" he then added, "with in reason. What's the age gap between you?"  
"About four years" Shine answered.  
"That's not too bad" Mech muttered, remarking in silence that this was the oddest conversation he'd had with a captive. It was quite nice actually.

Not long before they reached the rebel base Shine was blindfolded.  
"Can't have you seeing where we are" Mech sighed, make sure the cloth was tight enough, "Chip, carry her in, no use her tripping either." Someone, with strong arms and a tight grip, picked her up. Shine made no protest as she was swung over their shoulder and it started digging into her stomach. They were being nice to her, complaining would be wrong.

They took her to a cell and took off her blindfold there. Yet she found herself staring at the person.  
"D-Data?" She stuttered. She was sure...his left eye was missing, his hair was the same colour, his one eye's colour...everything was the same, he was just taller. He looked at her a little sadly and lifted her hand to his cheek, rubbing her palm against his face before leaving. That must have been his way of saying "yes, it's me." The memory was faint but it was still there, she'd been on death's door and he'd given up an eye to save her.  
"Why did you do it?" She asked just as he placed a hand on the door. He stopped for a second before continuing, her words only caused a mere hesitation. Still, that was enough proof.

Shine had no idea how long it was for that she lay down, staring at the grey wall. It's varying shades seemed to stumble down in imperfect patterns. Were they worried about her? They must have been, Hanbei had sounded quite the mess when shouting at her to stay put over the headset.  
"Papa..." she mumbled and burst into tears but it wasn't just he who crossed her mind as she tried in desperation to keep quiet. Sooki would be worried too, where had her daughter gone? Sooki couldn't have children of her own and had taken to treating Hideo and Shine like they were her own. Hideo...the tears became heavier as Shine thought of him. His perfect face...his gentle kiss.

As she thought of him water splattered on her face from the ceiling. The room was small, so very small, Shine couldn't thank enough that she wasn't claustrophobic otherwise she'd be in a lot of trouble. On one wall was a board, connected to it by chains. Like the rest of the room this was grey but appeared to be made of wood and had just been painted that way. On the board was a white, skinny and warn duvet, acting as a proxy mattress, with another white blanket on top. White was not exactly the right word, perhaps an off milk colour. It certainly smelt that way, whether you decided to white wash it or not. The ceiling Shine stared up at was the face of a broken cliff, covered in cracks and dripping water only made the room colder. Everything was just so...grim.

They couldn't get her to eat. She refused diligently, keeping her mouth clamped shut whenever they tried to force feed her. They didn't have the means to stick a tube up her nose so instead someone had to literally hold her arms back so she couldn't protest and force her mouth open. They still didn't get much down her throat but she had to swallow it or choke to death.  
"You're a stubborn bitch aren't you" muttered one of them.  
"I don't know what else you expected" Shine replied, earning herself a mark making slap to the face.  
"Be quiet" they snapped back, "witty remarks aren't going to save your ass round here."  
"That wasn't a witty remark, that was genuine question" Shine replied, trying not to laugh, the sting in her cheek making no difference. They just slapped her again and left her there.


	13. Chip

Shine spent most of her time sleeping, for she could do nothing else. Something changed this particular night however. It was the usual dream, a horrifying one that made her toss and turn in her sleep. It would always start with Chris trying to give her a flower before wasting away as sand and dust. It would then move to a birds eye view of everyone she had known and lost. There were new additions now. Cari was at the front. She was the first squad leader Shine had been close to and she'd let her die. She'd let her best friend die. She'd done it again, she'd let her best friend die.

Wait, what's that? There was a warm, oddly familiar feeling on Shine's cheek. She slowly opened her eyes to see what it was. Shine had no real idea of what she was expecting but it wasn't whatever the hell that was. Her mouth was covered as she almost screamed. Clearly having felt the tension fall from her cheeks they lifted their hand and went back to stroking her cheek. She knocked them off,  
"Tell me if it's you, please" she whispered, tears in her eyes with a sudden rush of emotions that didn't really seem to come from anywhere.  
"If I'm who?" They asked. She sat up and leant her forehead against the person's.  
"Is that you, Data?" Shine asked, rubbing her nose against his.  
"Yeah, it's me, I know it's you, commie grim reaper" he answered. Shine kissed him, his lips were softer than her cracked, dehydrated ones but he didn't seem to mind as he pulled her closer and pushed his tongue into her mouth. Data gently ran his hands up her sides but she pulled away all of a sudden,  
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that" she mumbled, looking away.  
"I shouldn't have pushed it further" Data mumbled back and to displace the awkwardness explained why he was there in 7 words, "they're planning to have you publicly executed."

What colour was present in her cheeks completely drained from Shine's face.  
"Oh..." was about as far as she got. Data hugged her trembling body,  
"But I'm going to get you out of here" he reassured her.  
"No you can't" Shine sighed, pulling away and holding his face in her hands, "I don't want to put you in danger as well."  
"But" he started.  
"No" Shine replied, "but thank you." A tear ran from Data's one eye and he pushed his forehead against Shine's,  
"But you can't die on me, come on commie grim reaper."

Shine rubbed her nose against his again,  
"It's okay Data," she smiled, brushing his hair back, "maybe if I die this war will end quicker."  
"No, no, no, it won't" Data replied.  
"Shh, shh" Shine whispered. Gentle as ever Shine pressed her lips to Data's again, and when she pulled away he looked some what annoyed with her.  
“Why are you refusing to eat and drink?” Data demanded. Shine shrugged,  
“It's just something prisoners do, isn't it?”  
“You can't throw your life away like that!” Data snapped at her, “it looks like you never put on weight!”  
“So? They're going to kill me anyway” Shine replied.  
“Be quiet!” Data hissed, covering her mouth with his hand.

“You really want to get me out don't you?” Shine asked, pulling his hand from her mouth. Data nodded, “do you know why?” Data pulled something out from under his coat and Shine couldn't help but stare. The cover was battered and torn and a couple of pages had already started to come lose while the entire top left corner was missing.  
“You've carried that with you everywhere, haven't you” Shine mumbled as he placed the book in her hands. Data nodded and opened the book for her,  
“See, I've added things to it so you understand. Shine I want you to live, I don't know why, maybe it's because you actually wanted to talk to me and didn't just batter me with questions about my family because that's what everyone else did. I just want you to live.”  
“Alright then, save me then Data” Shine smiled.

 

“The guard up there is a friend of mine, he's going to let you escape...well, he's going to let you out and make it look like you escaped” Data explained, “his girlfriend, Mimi, is going to meet you at the end of the corridor and take you through our own underground passages.”  
“You know about the ones we have?” Shine asked, rather surprised, she thought that secret had been buried with Yosh.  
“Yep, known for years but we won't attack them because we're not blood thirsty bastards...well okay some of us are but we keep an eye on those ones. Anyway, once you're out of there Chetso, the guard, will have gone to Mech and told him that you've escaped. He'll send the two of us after you and once we're out of the base's radar then we'll send you on the path to get home. We'll do it all the night before they intend to execute you.” Shine shifted a little and wrapped her arms around Data again, resting her head on his shoulder.  
“I don't really know how I can repay you” she mumbled quietly.  
“I do, start eating properly because you are not going to survive the journey home on an empty stomach and a dry throat you brain dead idiot” Data answered.

 

“Data, stay won't you?” Shine asked. The last thing she wanted was to be left alone and seeing him go to the door made her heart suddenly ache with wretched loneliness.  
“It's Chip now” he corrected, hand still resting on the door, half open. They were whispering for fear of being over heard by other prisoners but it felt like their voices were ringing loud and clear in the cold cavern of a prison.  
“Please stay” Shine repeated, Chip was not entirely sure if she had ignored his correction or not. While her face was some what void, perhaps a touch of colour in her cheeks where it had drained away before, no smile or grimace or look of anything quite fitted the look of longing in her eyes. It wasn't a look that was desperate for any kind of intimacy. It wasn't a look for someone to laugh and joke with her. It was just a look for someone, anyone would might just sit with her, perhaps in silence, just to be there.

 

Not sure whether he would regret this or not Chip shut the door once again.  
“Alright, I'll stay with you, commie grim reaper” he sighed, the door clicked as the splintering wood stuck to the skinny frame of the door. If she wanted to Shine could probably have kicked it down and escaped anyway. “Shine? Are you scared of something?” Shine looked up in surprise, what seemed like the first emotion that had crossed her face since she'd told him to save her.  
“Maybe” she answered, quickly dropping this while also pulling her knees up and hugging them to her chest.  
“That's too vague” Chip grumbled, “you're going to have to give me straight answers if you want me to stick around, I'm not the brightest.”  
“You are, you're brighter than me” Shine replied, looking slightly confused, “you can read and understand two languages, not just one, and you must have been called Data for a reason and you know all that stuff about Samurai.”  
“Takenaka Hanbei, he was Toyotomi Hideyoushi's tactician, though that wasn't his real name it was Shigeharu, and he worked along side Kuroda Kanbei, who's real name was Kuroda Yoshitaka, both under Toyotomi Hideyoushi and the Saito, the clan of Nou who was the wife of Oda Nobunaga whom Takenaka was said to hate” Chip recited.

 

A very odd feeling of nostalgia seemed to hit Shine as he recited the small pocket of information that had become lodged in his brain on one of the days he managed to get into school. She got up, rushed over and hugged him as tightly as she could with her rather weak arms. There clearly must have been some force left in her as Chip almost toppled back but managed to keep his balance, quite surprised by the slip of a girl having so much power in her. After regaining his step Chip wrapped his arms tightly around Shine and held her in silence. There was something very odd about holding a friend after almost four years apart. Heck she hadn't even been that close to him but there wasn't really anyone left who had been. He took careful note of how much her ribs seemed to protrude underneath the thin clothes she'd been given to wear. He could feel her shoulder digging into him, barely what it had been when they'd captured her.

 

“You're wasting away” Chip mumbled, pulling away to see her collarbone looking like a nasty scar on her chest. He turned and walked to the door but she rushed forward again and grabbed him,  
“Please don't leave” she begged, eyes clenched shut as she clung to him.  
“I'm not going to, I'm only going to get you some food, you're a twig and you're going to die before I can get you out” Chip snapped at her, shaking her arm off. She only clung to him more and started crying. Had she lost all traces of her sanity? This was a side of Shine Chip had not even expected to have existed. She was a mess, a complete and utter mess without a trace of dignity left on her skeletal frame. Eventually he turned around to face her once again and forced her back until she was sat on the make shift bed.

 

“Don't make me, Shine” he hissed threateningly, scaring her, she shrunk back as he leant a little too close for comfort and turned her face away, “you're not going to try and follow me are you?”  
“No” she mumbled, shaking her head, “please stop talking like that you're scaring me.” Chip left her without a word, locking the door and shifting a stone so it was stuck fast until he got back. He hadn't wanted to scare her but it was the only way she was going to stay put. It had been surprising to see her so vulnerable all of a sudden, usually she was the one scaring him. She was quite well renowned through out the rebels, some even called her Lady Death as many had seen her acts of affection towards the head of the Government army multiple times, leading them to name her as a future noble woman with a sword as sharp as her tongue. Seeing her now she was no Lady Death and more of a Lady Macbeth. Twisting, planning. Breaking.

 

"Ne, Han, you got any food left over?" Chip asked, appearing out of no where. Han was a short man with a nasty looking set of teeth and only half maintained stubble. He also had mid length brown hair that was very greasy and always up in a lose pony tail.  
"I'm not a never ending supply Chip" he snapped, "yeah, alright there's a bit of soup here but keep it quiet otherwise Mech'll whoop me one."  
"Sure thing mesboss 'an" Chip reassured him. Han rolled his eyes, not appreciating the commoner's mispronunciation of his name, and tipped the last of the funny grey coloured stuff into a bowl. He stuck it on the failing hob for a little, on as high a heat as he was allowed, there were limits on how much gas he could use a day and he was almost over it.  
"Stop pestering me for food alright one eye" Han snapped, shoving the hot bowl into Chip's hands and dropping a spoon into the grey. He then put a bread roll in Chip's pocket and told him to get out before "he wrung his scrawny neck like the chicken we had for dinner." Chip ran for his life.

 

"You told her?" Chetso demanded at the door.  
"Have done" Chip nodded and Chetso let him in. When he came back in he found Shine huddled up, now complaining of the cold.  
"Well this is boiling so it should warm you up" Chip smiled, trying to be a little nicer to Shine this time around. He sat next to her and, while she kept herself all wrapped up in the blanket and duvet, fed her. At first it scorch her mouth and she hid half of her face in the blankets.  
"Come on Shine, it's not hot now" Chip reassured her, some how managing to (eventually) coax her out and carry on feeding her. This was not how he had imagined Lady Death to be at all. She'd been head strong and sure of herself when they were younger, what had drawn her to this pathetic state?

 

He let her have his bottle of water and it was gone in only a minute.  
"Data...I mean Chip, will you read with me, like you used to?" Shine asked, still acting, at least in Chip's eyes, childish.  
"Alright then" he sighed, he was growing tired but seeing her so vulnerable made him feel guilty so he couldn't help himself. He sat beside her and dragged his legs up so he was leaning on one of the chains with his legs out straight. Shine snuggled into his side as he opened the book he'd given her.  
"Do you want me to read to you or do you want to read it yourself?" He asked.  
"I'll try, I think I'm better than I was" Shine answered.

 

Shine certainly had improved in terms of reading but her speaking was still absolutely terrible, sometimes she'd throw in tones instead of saying the correct verb ending and she stumbled over words that were longer than seven letters. Despite this Data would always help her, frustrating her seemed a little cruel at the minute. It was quite likely she had the fact that, if she didn't escape, she was going to die in a week weighing on her mind and reading was something she wanted to do. Chip was surprised she could think of anything else.

 

When she finally gave in, barely able to keep her eyes open, Chip did probably one of the stupidest things he had ever done. He tried to kiss her. Now before she had been completely off her head and he had practically felt the regret raging from her. People did stupid stuff when they felt like that, he got that, so he had no idea what possessed him to do this. Never the less he slowly leant in and tried to press his lips to hers. He must have gotten about an inch from her face before she gave him a shove and he fell off the board.  
"Ouch! What was that for?" He snapped, standing up and a hand on his lower back, where he had hit the floor.  
"Trying to kiss me. Look, I know I shouldn't have pushed you and I'm sorry, and I'm sorry about what I did before. I don't want to be rude but...can you...can you just leave me to myself for a little, I need to think about some...er...stuff."  
“I'm sorry” Chip sighed, “I'll see you in a few nights.”


	14. Messboss 'An

The days and nights passed all too quickly for Shine's liking. Still she ate and drank as requested and started putting on weight again. A couple of times Chetso and Mimi came to check up on her and would get her extra food if they thought she hadn't eaten enough during the day. The surveyor seemed rather impressed,  
“So you do have a stomach, you were worrying me” they smiled, their all but blank eye's glinting. It was another person with white hair and they did not seemed human. They were very tall, very thin and extremely pale. Now it was common for people, particularly from the old capital, to have very pale skin but this was completely off that scale. They were almost paper white. There was a down fall in this because the next thing they asked was,  
“So, what has suddenly persuaded you to eat? Do you want to escape? Do you think by eating normally you'll be strong enough to get out of here?” They laughed, “good luck with that.”

 

That was on the third day and on the fourth day no meals or any form of hydration came. Chetso and Mimi were quickly up to their necks in getting them to Shine without having Han find out their secret.  
“Messboss 'an” Mimi called, she was a proper commoner, from the far north and with much darker skin than anyone Shine had ever met in her life, “you got any of that pud left?”  
“I'm only letting you have this because it'll go to waste” Han sighed, “and for goodness sake girl, it's a H not just 'an.” He shovelled the dry, tasteless cake onto a plate and handed it to her.  
“Thanks Messboss 'an!” Mimi giggled, rushing out.  
“IT'S HAN!” Han yelled at her.

 

“Here you go missy” Mimi smiled when Chetso let her in, “your surveyor sure as 'ell is mean ain't they?” Shine smiled a little, she was incredibly hungry and in no place to answer. Mimi laughed,  
“I always found you funny you capitalses people, very posh an' refined an' pretty. You're very pretty miss.”  
“Thank you Mimi, you're very pretty too” Shine smiled, stopping to breath a second. Mimi giggled,  
“No good 'ill come to ya if ya lie miss, us Northern folk ain't pretty.”  
“You are!” Shine protested.  
“Keep your voice down” Chetso snapped from outside, “oi you! Shut it!” He shouted at another.  
“You are” Shine whispered, grabbing Mimi's weather worn hands, “you've got really nice eyes and your hair isn't as damaged as mine, look your's is soft, mine's like straw because I have to straighten it all the time.” Shine went back to her cake when her stomach demanded more.  
“Why'd you have to straighten it miss, who demands that?”  
“Government leader, all girls over sixteen” Shine answered, “until there hair is straight.”  
“Cappy weirdos” Mimi decided, Shine nodded in agreement.

 

The night before the plan was to be executed rather than Shine Chip came to visit her again.  
“Look how much better you look” he smiled, hugging her tightly, “you've got pudge I can cuddle.”  
“You weirdo” Shine giggled, but she smiled back anyway and lay her head on his chest. She could hear his heart thumping against her ear and did her best to pretend that she couldn't.  
“You ready for this then?” Chip asked, pulling away. Shine nodded,  
“I'm ready. I know we can do this.” Chip smiled again,  
“That's the spirit sweet. Stay safer next time, okay?” Shine nodded again and hugged him again, a little tighter this time.

 

“Chip do you think you can do this?” Shine asked.  
“Of course, what makes you think otherwise?” Chip replied, a little confused, surely the one who should be scared was her.  
“It's just, well Mech clearly trusts you, are you really sure you want to lie to him, just to save me. What will he do if he finds out?” Shine explained.  
“Shine Mech isn't like the other guy, he isn't as strict and anyway, he needs all the man power he can get” Chip reassured her, “everything will be fine commie grim reaper.”

“So, how's your old man then?” Chip asked, they were lying on the board, cuddling.  
“He's fine, still had terrible eye sight and super sonic hearing” Shine answered, “Chip, do mind if I ask about your family?”  
“Sure, go ahead” Chip replied.  
“Did you have a Mum?” Shine asked, moving her head a little.  
“Yeah, but she died in the capital, we were in the mines and it collapsed on top of her, I was the only one to get out alive out of 300 people” Chip answered.  
“What about your Dad? Did you have any siblings?” Shine persisted.  
“My Dad and my little brother were out selling stuff when the bombs dropped. I'm sure, so, so, so sure they're alive. I know they're alive” Chip answered.

 

He got up then, not willing to talk about them any more.  
“I'll see you tomorrow night okay, be ready” he whispered. He almost did the stupid thing again but instead kissed her on the cheek.  
“Make sure you're really okay with this Chip, Chetso too” Shine reminded him.  
“We are Shine, you better go to sleep” Chip replied. She sat up quickly and hugged him round the neck,  
“Thank you, just in case I don't get to say it tomorrow.” Chip let out a breathy laugh,  
“Then, you're welcome. Nanhi, Shine.”  
“Nanhi, Chip.”

 

The next day dragged and dragged and dragged. Her surveyor gave up, befuddled as to how Shine was still looking roughly the same yet they weren't feeding her.  
“You freaky girl” they mumbled, not enjoying their almost violence free encounter with her.  
“Says you” Shine replied, that was when it was no longer violence free as they slapped her.  
“Shut up, I've told you before comments like that won't get you far” they snapped.  
“Neither will that body” Shine replied, earning herself another slap. They then suddenly grabbed her face and kissed her, shoving her against the wall.

 

Shine shrieked and made the best attempt she could to push them away. She kicked and punched their chest and even managed to strike their face but it proved pointless. She gave up, cursing her lack of resilience, and let them do as they pleased. It was only when they knocked her against the wall again that she screamed again.  
“What the hell was that” yelled a rather angry voice. The door burst open and a man with greasy hair in a pony tail and badly maintained stubble tumbled in. His first action was the thwack the surveyor on the back of the head with the frying pan he was carrying, funny Shine was pretty sure that was something you only saw in movies, but hey what ever, she was being saved.  
“What a disgusting person” the man spat, looking down at the now unconscious surveyor, “you alright?” Shine nodded, rubbing her lips repeatedly in disgust.  
“They did at least feed you before doing that right?” the man asked, Shine nodded again, “have this anyway, get rid of the taste. G'day Miss.” He handed Shine a rock hard bread roll and grabbed the person's ankles, “you the girl Mimi, Chetso and Chip have been bugging me for food for?” Shine awkwardly nodded, “well pleased to met you, name's Han.” Han then continued to drag the surveyor out by their ankles, making sure to rub their face against the floor.

 

“What an odd man” Shine mumbled as the door was shut, rubbing her lips again. They had tasted of tobacco, something that Shine had and always would hate. The only thing that made Shine stop rubbing her lips was that she was sure she'd make them bleed if she continued. That was exactly what Hideo had warned her about, "remember what some of the opposing side do. Don't get yourself captured." Well she'd certainly done a stunning job of that hadn't she. Yet she couldn't help but find herself doubting that what had just happened was strictly limited to the other side. She was sure that it happened to any female prisoners they took, perhaps some men as well, it depended really but you had to face the majority. Everything really was just turning into one big fat lie now.


	15. Escape

When night finally fell Shine was on her toes at all times, just waiting for Chetso to give her the signal. The signal was actually him opening her door a crack and for her to jump out and punch him. Some of the other prisoners could see so it had to look convincing enough. Of course he'd have to try and catch her, everything was very much to be treated as a “whatever happens in the spur of the moment is what the plan is, in conclusion we don't have one.” These were actually direct words from Chip from when the four of them had met secretly on the fourth night.

 

As soon as the door cracked open Shine was out in the corridor in a split second but she was met with a nasty surprise. At the end of the corridor three soldiers were stood, one of Chetso while the two others had a hold of Chip and looked just about ready to kill him. She stopped and stared at Chetso. They seemed such good friends...why would Chetso do such a thing?  
“Where's Mimi?” Was Shine's first question, something was very wrong with this man and she was the only one Shine couldn't see in front of her.  
“Oh, just sleeping” Chetso shrugged, not looking all too fussed but it was quickly followed by a sinister grin. Shine froze for a second and let all her thoughts explode, until they became unintelligible from one another.  
“You bastard” she hissed, looking down, her body now shaking and finding herself surprised that Chetso hadn't shot her yet. She went to move but Chip started yelling at her,  
“Do that and we're both dead.” Shine stopped, she could do nothing.

 

For a few minutes they stood in a stalemate and no one moved a muscle, yet Shine's brain was whirring, trying to think of something to do. Just something. Her brain was also trying, and failing, to maintain the desperate levels of anger inside her. Chetso had betrayed them. For any reason? It didn't appear there was any reason at all. Shine gulped,  
“So, seen as you'll probably end up killing me anyway, why did you do it?” Chip cut in,  
“Remember what I taught you about Oda and Akechi?” Shine laughed,  
“Oh I see, it's a case of the retainer killing the lord. Tell me, Chetso, what has my dear friend done to annoy you?” Shine realised she was really playing with her life at the minute but she seemed to be high off the same feeling. Chetso glared at her,  
“Shut up.” Ah, it appeared he had done nothing then, Chetso just wanted to look good by displaying a traitor's head.

 

Shine took that moment to glance at Chip and found that he was giving her some kind of signal. He kept staring directly at her for at least five seconds before his eye would dart to the door and then back to her. Go back into your cell. That's what he was trying to say. Not taking her eyes off Chetso and the other two guards she slowly backed away, her hands flailing for the wall before she found it to guide her. What was Chip thinking? Surely they'd kill him the very second she was out of view. She gave him one last look of desperation and she only got a glare in return. Suddenly realising she was scared she walked backwards quicker and almost fell backwards as she stepped back into the cell.

 

A gunshot rang.

 

And then another. Shine had frozen because of the first gunshot. They'd killed him. They'd killed him. They'd killed him. Everyone was dying for her, what was the point of this? She really was the grim reaper that Chip had called. Not did, had. With her thoughts all mixed up she crumpled to the floor and buried her face in her knees, completely at loss with what to do.  
I'm sorry Papa.  
I'm sorry Sooki.  
I'm sorry Togo.  
I'm sorry Yosh.  
I'm sorry Hideo.  
I'm sorry Chip.

 

Yet when the second gunshot rang she looked up slightly, only uncovering her eyes as she watched the still open door like a hawk. Someone fell just outside and their face came into view. It was one of the guards who had been with Chetso...how could they have been killed? She slowly crept fore ward, wary of what could be on the other side of the door frame. Both of the guards were dead and Chip and Chetso were stood, grinning at one another.

 

Chip turned slightly and then ran and hurled Shine to her feet,  
“Go, now” he snapped.  
“Let the others go as well” Shine insisted.  
“We can't” Chip replied, shoving her towards the door. She quickly turned and knocked him back a little,  
“Let them go.” Chip glared at her,  
“And have Mech go absolutely ballistic at us. Shine, go. You don't understand, we're only letting you go because we know you.” A look of surprise crossed Shine's face,  
“How does that make me any different to the ones who are in here?”  
“The only prisoners we take are the ones who will try and kill the innocent, some of our own men are in there” Chetso snapped at her, “now get out, you're the exception, Mimi's waiting for you.”

 

With this information now stuck firmly in her brain Shine turned and bolted, slipping down the side corridor quickly to her meeting point with Mimi. Only she saw the same surveyor whom Han had saved her from down the corridor, holding Mimi's hands behind her back and saying...something to her. Knowing none of it was pleasant and that if they weren't rided of the surveyor they were going to be found Shine grabbed one of the stones that had fallen out of the wall and lobbed it at them. It smacked them in the side of the head and they fell over immediately, taking a struggling Mimi with them. She quickly got up, ran to Shine and quickly dragged her along the many twisting and turning corridors and down into the underground tunnels. When they reached the outside Mimi hugged Shine,  
“You've got to run miss, otherwise they'll catch you, go to those trees in the distance, Chetso and Chip will be with you soon.” Shine pulled away, said her thanks and bolted.

 

The ground under her feet was hard and all she could hear were the souls of her thin shoes smashing into the ground and the sound of the sea crashing just beyond the cliff. She only glanced back once to see the light from the passages and Mimi gone from view. She was on her own now. Chip had told her that the clump of forest off in the distance was the base's radar limit but now she was actually running it seemed like a long, long way. Yet she still pressed on. She wasn't having Chip, Chetso and Mimi risking their very lives for nothing. Determination was a very odd thing and came for the oddest of reasons, at perhaps the most unexpected times. An understandable determination was that Shine had wanted to go to her Mother's grave every single day, present or no present, yet she had lost it quickly, something she felt very guilty for. One that was a little irritating was Shine absolute determination for her to completely fail almost every class, just so the teachers would tell her Dad the truth. The determination here was very much understandable, friend's lives are always worth much more than your own.

 

Around half a kilometre into the forest someone tackled her to the ground,  
“Got ya” they laughed, getting up and pulling her to her feet.  
“Really Chip? This is the time for jokes is it?” She laughed, brushing herself off a little.  
“The longer we take the better we look, and the better you look come to think of it” Chetso grinned, “sorry for scaring you before, but it needed to be done, those guards over heard you and one eye here.” Chetso hit Chip's shoulder and Chip glared at him, having to look up at his friend who was far superior in height. Shine laughed a little,  
“It's fine. I wish I could get your decree through, about the prisoners.”  
“Why can't you?” Chip asked as he swung a bag off his back and started checking the contents.  
“They'll know I got it from you, they'll think I'm turning commie” Shine explained.  
“But you are a commie, aren't you? You're only going back because of your Dad and that bloke you fancy?” Chetso replied.  
“Yep, and no one knows that” Shine sighed.

 

“Alright, what we could give you is all set. Han magically seemed to know what was going on” Chip started, throwing Shine a quick glare as he knew she was the culprit, “so he made as much extra as he could. Still, it won't last you how long it'll take to the capital so only eat when you are really, really hungry and don't let it be too much. Water wise you've got a lot, that's more important but” he stopped and put something in her hand, “if you do run out, get some from a stream and put this in it, it'll neutralise it but only use it if you run out and don't put too much in otherwise it'll kill you. Directions wise we're going to take you to the big main road just keep following it, even through the old capital and you'll get there eventually.”  
“We best go One Eye, we can't take too long” Chetso warned them so they quickly set off through the forest.

 

The forest was less of a forest and more of a sizeable clump of trees. It was warmer in the forest and as soon as they were out in exposed air the temperature seemed drop. That was common in the summer months, the days would be unbearably warm while the nights dropped considerably, on some occasions even below zero.  
“We don't have anything for her, do we?” Chetso hissed at Chip, “she'll die in this cold.”  
“I'll just give my coat, it's alright” Chip answered, “we can make it look like a scrap and have her nick it from me.”  
“Are you saying I'm going to have to hit you?” Chetso asked.  
“Yep, we're going to have to beat the living day lights out of each other...okay maybe not because there's no way she's that strong but a few knocks to the jaw will do” Chip answered.

 

Shine was practically oblivious to their conversation, all she could think of was home. However much she hated the ideals that came with it, and however much she hated that they were living in excellent luxury while a war was on that huge white building with it's gardens and training grounds was home. Togo was there. Since Yosh had saved Shine's life and Shine had stopped Togo from killing himself the two had grown close and Hanbei had agreed to let Togo be the one to teach Shine all the military things she needed to know. Sooki was there. Sooki had gladly acted as a Mother to Shine, something she barely had herself because her own Mother had died when she was only six years old. She'd also kept the some what feminine side of Shine alive. She was all for the displaced gender rolls but having that option to revert to after a fight was very soothing because it was normal. Hanbei was there. If there was anyone who she would go back for it was Hanbei. Shine was closer to her Father than anyone else because he'd been a single parent for the last eleven and three quarter years, he'd taught her the very fundamentals that dictated her understanding of wrong and right. Then there was Hideo. There exact relationship was a slightly blurred line thanks to social normalities. They had kissed before, thanks to the dance and kisses on the cheek between close friends was very normal but had never actually stated any kind of affection for each other verbally. Still, none of that stopped her missing him to the point where her chest actually ached.

 

“Well, this is it” Chip sighed as they stepped out onto an old country lane. The temperature dropped as expected and Shine started rubbing her arms, trying to warm herself up. Chip stopped her, took his coat off and wrapped it round her shoulders, holding it up a little so she could put her arms in. Tears welled up in Shine's eyes and she hugged him tightly, hiding her face in his chest, some what embarrassed that she was crying.  
“I leave you two alone” Chetso muttered, rolling his eyes and going and standing behind a tree. Chip pulled away and smiled at Shine, stroking her cheek gently, rubbing away tears.  
“You'll be fine Shine” he reassured her, “oh and do me a favour, whatever that politician was called tell him you love him.” Shine went scarlet and Chip laughed, “and keep yourself healthy, we've not been able to give you the best but you'll get it there.”  
“I will, I promise” Shine sighed, rolling her eyes and smiling a little.  
“Work on your English, then maybe we can try talking next time” Chip smiled, tapping her on the nose, “now go, you've got people waiting for you.” Chetso came out from behind the tree again and Shine gave him her thanks. All that was left was for Chip to give Shine the bag of supplies and to make sure she was well on her way before they too turned and left.  
“You sure she'll make it to Menoa?” Chetso asked as they started walking back.  
“Oh, I'm sure.”


	16. A Man of Tales with a Real Name

Once again Shine only looked back one but this time she could see the two people who had sent her off, Chip even waved to her before shooing her off. She laughed a little and hitched the bag up on her shoulders, carrying on in the darkness. She was very grateful for the coat as where it didn't quite reach at her ankles she could feel the true wrath of the cold, even when she'd been walking for a while and almost contemplated taking the coat off. She did exactly as Chip had told her and followed the road, hiding when ever anything came passed as it appeared to have become an ideal route for the military. She went through two towns in the night and eventually came to a third in the early morning as the sun came up and began to roast the land. She stopped momentarily in the market place and took off the coat Chip had given her, only to hear it jingle a little. Deciding she had walked far enough she sat behind the local inn and went through the coat.

 

There were several pockets on the inside, denying the need for any on the outside. Embroided on the very top one was Chip's family crest. Everyone had one, rich or poor, and his was a small brush with three lines underneath, his family must have been painters originally. Inside the pocket was a handful of coins and Shine hoped he'd put them in there on purpose and not forgotten them because they were all the most valuable coin you could get and bundled together was practically a small fortune. In the second pocket on the same side were some cartridges and in the final one a small pistol, he had definitely put that in there on purpose. On the other side the first two pockets were practically empty, save for a note he'd used to remind himself to go see Mech at 8 o'clock one Monday morning. In the last one was a picture.

 

It was black and white, the corners were tattered but otherwise it was perfectly visible. It was of a family of four, a nuclear one as well. Mother, Father and two sons. This must have been Chip's family. Chip's mother was a very pretty woman, thick ringlets of light coloured hair framed her face and judging by the tone Shine guessed her eyes had been hazel. Like the rest of the family she was in traditional dress and her dress was covered with flowers. Chip's dad was a very smiley man with lots of wrinkles from smiling so much but you could still tell he was quite young, maybe 30 in the picture. He had his hand on a much younger Chip's shoulder, he must have been seven or eight years old, he looked quite the same surprisingly, apart from the obvious loss of an eye and that his hair was now a little longer. He had a great big, cheesy grin on his face and Shine had a feeling that was a lot more common place than it had been recently. His little brother was stood next to him, with the same grin on his face. His little brother was considerably shorter than Chip and looked as though he was standing on his tip toes so he could be seen properly.

 

Shine smiled a little and put the picture away and stood up, swinging the bag back onto her shoulders and hooking the coat over an arm.  
“What are you doing here miss, don't see many military folk round here” said a voice. Shine jumped and turned to look at the speaker. It was a young man with brown hair and brown eyes, he was smiling a little but it wasn't the threatening smile that might be expected when you meet someone behind an inn.  
“Just making my way back home” Shine answered.  
“On leave are you?” The man asked. Shine nodded, she knew she was lying but it didn't really matter,  
“I was only stopping to rest, it's quite far away” she added.  
“I'm going up to the next town anyway, perhaps we could go together, no use being on those roads alone, they're dangerous at best” he suggested.  
“Sure, why not” Shine agreed. She knew this was probably a pretty bad idea in most people's eyes but she'd noticed a lot of refugees had been passing recently so they'd be around a lot of people and, if all else failed, she had the gun.

 

“So, what's your name?” He asked as they started walking up the same road Shine had been following for almost a full day now.  
“I'm going to have to warn you, it's not intended as an insult it really is my “name” so don't be alarmed” Shine laughed, “it's Shine.” The man laughed,  
“I can see why you gave the warning, mine's Nobushige and no, that's not my real name.”  
“Well, I'm not giving mine away either so we're even” Shine smiled, “what brings you round here then? Got family in the next town or something?” He shook his head,  
“I just travel from place to place” he answered, “I'm doing my best to avoid conscription into either side. I make my living by telling stories in places like Inns and Beer houses, I pass them off as someone else's, not my own.”  
“Why? It's your work, you take the credit” Shine replied.  
“I've found people don't like that, they think it's self centred” Nobushige sighed, “everything about me comes from legend so I thought I'd make my own ones.”

 

“Hang on, but isn't your name the opposite of legend?” Shine asked. Nobushige laughed,  
“Indeed, it's a real name not a legend name. Well, not that it's replacement is a legend name, it's just not the correct one. We are talking about the same person, the Samurai of Osaka, Sanada Yukimura?”  
“Yeah, same person” Shine nodded, “why'd you choose that name anyway?”  
“I just thought it sounded cool” Nobushige shrugged, “my parents died at the start of the war and then the army came marching to my house, demanding I join them so I ran off. How'd you end up with Shine then?”  
“My Dad just told me that was what I should call myself, I was only thirteen/fourteen when it started so I knew pretty much nothing of what was going on” Shine answered, “the amount of people I've almost offended is starting to become a little too much.”  
“I imagine it's close to your real name then, sounds very in the moment” Nobushige commented. Shine just nodded.

 

“Where are they all going?” Shine asked as another family of refugees passed them, traipsing along the road, tired and hungry.  
“Probably to Menoa, they want help from the very people who are bombing them” Nobushige sighed, “I would join the communists but...well I'd rather not die all too soon.” Shine nodded,  
“I decided to do this for myself but everyone tried to tell me not to...I don't really know why I didn't listen...well I suppose I do but it's not the prettiest tale.”  
“Tell away, we have a long way to walk and who hasn't seen horrors when there's a civil war on” Nobushige shrugged, “unless it brings back bad memories of course.”

 

Shine explained what had happened to Yosh, leaving out a few details so that Nobushige still couldn't tell which side she was on, she wasn't even sure how he had guessed she was in the military.  
“I stopped someone I'm now very close to from killing themselves. I felt like I had to fight” Shine sighed, “I don't know what drove me to it, even though I'd seen first hand what it did to some people. I said that I'd already killed someone and couldn't back on it but and said that I wanted to protect everyone but...recently I've thought that maybe I can't do that.”  
“You can never protect everyone” Nobushige sighed, “I learnt that the hard way.” Shine looked at him in surprise,  
“I thought you said you didn't do 'the whole fighting thing.'”

“When the war started and my parents died it wasn't just me, my sister was with me too. We were twins and about as close as you could get” Nobushige sighed, “we ran away from the capital together but she got the same virus you had.” Shine sighed, running a hand through her hair as he continued, “I stupidly point blank refused to let her go to some one. I didn't trust anyone. I thought once she got better they'd conscript us and we'd have to go into the army. I thought I was protecting her from it...the day after she died they released the cure to the public, for everyone to take. If I'd gone to someone she would have got it early...she would have lived.”  
“I'm sorry about your sister” Shine sighed, “time is a cruel concept that we have created.”  
“Part of me is glad, maybe it would be worse for her if she was still alive” he sighed, “she wasn't the wellest girl anyway.”  
“Perhaps so, an abundance of health problems come with this” Shine replied, lifting a little of her hair, “you're less immune so you get plenty of illnesses, but in some cases your eyesight is worse, your system as a whole might not even work properly and it ends up killing them anyway.”

 

Walking to the next town took the best part of the day.  
"Where are you actually going?" Nobushige asked.  
"Small town near the new capital" Shine lied, sighing.  
"Don't worry that was the main drag, it should only take three days from here" Nobushige smiled.  
"Thanks" Shine smiled. As they stepped into the town she diverted off the main path and went to sit under a tree on a small hill. Nobushige joined her, smiling as he sat beside her and leant back a little, enjoying the last of the evening sun.  
"Do you reckon any where will still be open? Selling food that is" Shine asked after a long and rather comfortable silence.  
"There will be, in the centre, why, you got cash?" Nobushige replied, yawning. Shine nodded and took out two of the coins to prove it.  
"Alright then" Nobushige said, nodding in approval as he stood up, "lets go find somewhere."

 

They walked through the town, looking for somewhere. Nobushige warned her against going to any open stalls,  
"The food isn't good and they rip you off, don't bother." He clearly knew as he usually only had enough money to go to them sometimes, they were still the cheapest option.  
"Where is the best place then" Shine asked.  
"The Red Light districts, always the red light districts" Nobushige asked, trying not to laugh as he added, "I'm a single nineteen year old, how can you not expect me to have gone at some point in my life?" Shine sighed,  
"Fine, we'll look for somewhere there." Nobushige laughed a triumphant laugh and led the way.

 

"Are you serious?" Shine asked, pulling a face.  
"The rooms are separate, it's fine" Nobushige reassured her, "I've been here before."  
"That's disgusting" Shine replied as he took her hand and led her in.  
"Listen, pretend to be my girlfriend, just while we're in here" he whispered.  
"What? Why?" She demanded.  
"Free drinks" he answered, "you'll agree when you see the prices." Shine certainly did agree when she saw the prices.  
"How much" she mumbled, staring at the board, "I think I'm going to faint and I'm from the capital."  
"Try being a single in here, you've gotta be rich" Nobushige sighed, taking her hand and leading her to the bar, "two wines please."  
"Wine?" Shine asked.  
"Best thing on there, promise" Nobushige replied, pecking Shine on the cheek, "gotta act like it remember, and make your accent a little more rough, us capital people aren't much liked here." Nobushige wrote something down on a piece of paper in front of them.  
"You aren't allergic to anything are you?" He asked quickly, Shine shook her head and he handed the paper to a woman behind the bar who gave them a nod and said,  
"15."

 

The place wasn't so bad. Everything was either red, black or both in some respect. The tables were very small and round, built for couples.  
“All the ones in the other room look like desks, it would be embarrassing if there weren't other people in there with you” Nobushige smiled when he worked out that Shine was looking over the interior.  
“The only thing that's bothering me is the smell of vinegar” she sighed and then suddenly covered her eyes, “and the lights.” While the lights were mostly concentrated on the dance floor a stray white one, every couple of minutes or so, would flick out and spotlight many of the people who were eating or drinking, blinding them for a second before turning away in disgrace, only to repeat the action again and again.

 

They got their wine and then went to sit at table 15 as instructed. It was on a wall so they were sat next to one another rather than across from.  
"Why won't you drink? Don't tell me you've never drunk before" Nobushige said, taking a sip of his own. Shine went red and looked away. Nobushige laughed and turned her head back to face him,  
"Here, I taste of it." He then kissed her, tongue and all. Shine was quite surprised by this and her first thought was, "this man cannot hold his alcohol" but eventually got used to it by internally yelling "pretend it's Hideo" over and over. Once he pulled away she gingerly took a sip of the wine, noticing that all of a sudden Nobushige had his arm around her waist. It was a sweet wine and luckily Shine had a sweet tooth so it wasn't all that bad. Food came, the classic kind of pub food, burger and chips but it sure as hell was good when you'd barely eaten all day. Well it would have been classic pub food if it wasn't actually a strip club. That is what Nobushige had meant when he said the rooms were separate.

 

After two glasses of wine Shine was very drunk and Nobushige even more so.  
"Come on baby, lets dance" Nobushige grinned, pulling Shine too the dance floor and giggling stupidly along with her.  
"You know I can't dance right?" Shine laughed.  
"We're drunk, it really doesn't matter" Nobushige grinned. Shine awkwardly started dancing with him as a guide, he spun her round and helped her step back and forth clumsly in time.

"You're very pretty by the way" he whispered to her. A slow song had been put on and all but couples had left the dance floor.  
"You're surely a criminal for being so handsome" Shine replied, fighting not to pull a face as it stung a little to say. She'd given the same compliment to Hideo."Listen, Shine, I was wondering" Nobushige started, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his forehead against her's. Nobushige took a deep breath, "maybe you'd like to spend the night with me...if you know what I mean." Shine went a little pink,  
"Maybe, let me think about it" she answered. They went back to the table and finished off there wine. She deliberated over it for a while. Surprising herself a little she found she did actually want to sleep with Nobushige. Of course it was actually the wine talking but she didn't know that.  
"You sure you haven't got anything?" Shine asked, she was very up front with this because she wanted a straight answer and she would pressure him if he looked like he was lying.  
"No...I...I...I've never slept with anyone before. Everyone seems to think tha travelling so much means you get laid all the time...that really is not the case" Nobushige answered, going a raging scarlet.  
"That makes two of us, lets go" Shine replied.


	17. A Little Kindness

Waking up the next morning Shine was the first. She contemplated waking Nobushige but found herself aching for home and decided not to. She needed to go before he knew she was going. It had been a dire mistake because she was sure he was the lovestruck puppy type and she didn't want to be followed. So, laced in deep regret, she got up and silently pulled her clothes on. Once dressed she grabbed his notebook off the floor, which had conviently fallen out of his bag, and wrote him a note.

Dear Yun,  
I'm sorry I have to go. The military have called me  
back in a desperate situation. I'm sorry, I truly am.  
You're an amazing person...and hey I guess this is  
what being in love is like.  
My name is Shiro.

Shiro sighed. The last thing she wanted to do was lie to Yun even more, as she had discovered his real name last night it felt some what wrong to leave him. He had been so kind to her over the last day but she knew, for some reason, that her time here would be limited and why would she want to drag the "I don't do fighting" guy into her world? As her last impression on him she went to the dressing table in the room they had rented and took out the lipstick she had found the night before. It was new so she wasn't hesitant in putting it on. She checked once more that it said it would stain clothes on the side before going over and leaving a few marks on his shirt collar.  
"Good luck sweet heart" she sighed, leaning down and kissing him on the cheek. She then pocketed the lipstick, filled the water bottles in the bath room, left money on the bedside table and left.

Oddly she didn't actually regret what she'd done that night. In fact she'd probably go as far to say that was the most fun she'd ever had. Even when she had to stop at the next town and buy some herbal tea to rid herself of the headache she had she still didn't regret it. Yun was an all round, nice guy and she could think of very few people like him. Except one. Hideo. Shine almost hid under the table she was sat at when she thought of him. She quickly downed the tea, paid and left. She had no wishes to linger. Places where that made you think to much about that kind of thing were not good places to stay.

 

With a three day trek ahead of her Shine started being a little more careful with the money she had left and the food she had left. Chip was right it wasn't going to last her until she got home, especially if she took her detour around the old capital. She didn't want to walk through it. Though she was a full believer in the “face your fears” mind set she didn't want to go through somewhere that the very thought of angered her and reminded her of all the lies she'd ever been told by a so called benevolent government and how much she really detested them. She knew full well that she'd had a chance to join the communists but she knew full well that a move like that could get her Dad killed. One of the policies that had been adopted from the old regime into this one was the “stamp out” law. Anyone who caused trouble got their whole family into trouble, much like in a country not too far off from them. Family and friends were always worth much more than your ideals.

 

She passed town after town as two days dragged on and on and on. Town might not have been the correct word as the second day drifted into its warm afternoon. The closer you got Caobei the more you realised to what extent the place had been bombed. Even when it was just a black silhouette on the horizon Shine found herself walking the streets that still seemed to smoulder from the years before. As she wondered through one of these disaster areas while the sun began to set someone grabbed her coat and tugged. She spun round, hand on the pocket with the now loaded gun in, to see a small girl.  
“Have you got any food miss?” She asked, her little voice hoarse and tired.

 

Shine was completely frozen. How dare she live a privileged life when this little girl practically dying of starvation. Slowly she took of her bag and unzipped it. She had three bread rolls left, she was sure two could last her for a day and if she carried on through the night, which now looked like her only option, they wouldn't need to last that long. She handed one of them to the girl and smiled a little,  
“In return for the food” Shine started and the little girl backed off, looking terrified and Shine quickly rectified what she was going to say, “I was just wondering, are there any rivers or streams nearby?” The girl stopped backing away and nodded, pointing a little to the right of the main road. Shine smiled brightly at the girl,  
“Thank you.” The girl just frowned a little and walked away from Shine. Perhaps smiling was not the best thing to do.

 

Shine quickly left the small town, she didn't think staying was the best as while being as kind as you could to others was an excellent trait to have it doesn't half back fire when it comes to food. She did need to keep herself alive so she couldn't give any more away. Anyway, she wanted to get Caobei over and done with.

 

It was a cloudless night so the moon and stars shone down brilliantly, illuminating to road which was handy as there were many dips and even a few holes from the bombs. No one had cleared up Caobei. It belonged to no one, communist nor capitalist, it was a place to be left alone. It was a ghost town. What was left of it still stood and crumbled as the years passed and many animals found safe haven in the old city. There was one thing they had cleared up. The bodies. Yet, as with every ghost city and town, people still saw them. They had a new saying which was “Shan koto hibarii Caobei panii rappo” which meant that anyone who walked the streets of Caobei would go mad. Some reported screams being heard, gunshots, all of anyone's worst nightmare. A nightmare Shine had lived.

 

Yet there was a very small pair of predicaments that came about when Shine came to the path she intended to go down. She remembered it well. It went round the city, by the old river that had always been an ugly brown colour. The first predicament was that she had waited too late to refill her water using the chemical Chip had given her. There was no way it was going to clean water like this and death wasn't something she wanted to risk at the minute. She did that far too much for her own liking. The second however was much serious. The path had collapsed into the river.

 

The only way was through Caobei.


	18. Caobei

Even making her way to the gates was nerve wrecking and pure torture. She didn't want to go in. She didn't want to see her home again. She didn't want to walk on that street again. Although it was cold the temperature seemed to drop even further, seeping into her clothes, into her very bones. Yet still she brought her finger tips up to the now grey, once white, wall that surrounded the city. Though only her finger tips brushed against it lightly she could feel the bumps and peeling layers of paint, slowly loosening. The cold from the wall only seemed to seep in, joining the air that came to fill her lungs, which seemed to be begging for air and she had to force them to slow. To calm.

As her finger tips came from the edge of the wall she had to grab it so she didn't fall to her knees there and then. This was it. This was the entrance to the ghost town. To the dead city. The city of madness. Home. Shine slowly pushed herself off the wall and stood up straight. Yet she could feel herself shuddering and fought to keep her feet. If she could do this she could do anything. If she could pass that place she could pass anywhere. So, slowly and steadily, she took small, baby steps into Caobei. The cold feeling stayed and, although Shine knew they weren't real, she could hear little whisperings.  
"Where's Mama and Papa?"  
"Have you seen my husband?"  
"Where are you, my sweet baby girl?"  
"My home...it's gone."  
"Where do we go now?" It reached it's worse as she passed that point and she collapsed, on her knees with her arms protectively over her head. They screamed for help and gunshots sounded while Shine broke into a loud wail. She wanted them to stop but they were there for a reason. So everyone, young and old, would know exactly what had happened.  
"I just want to go home" Shine mumbled, "but my home isn't home any more. This is my home. Why did I have to lose it?"

Shine felt something soft brush against her forehead and the voices stopped, wondering what she could possibly encountered. She knew she was in the very spot Chris had been shot at and was quite surprised that she couldn't hear his voice. She was practically begging to hear it. A familiar voice among all of these. Yet, he would not be able to say anything, Shiro was the only one who had spoken in those last few moments.

Feeling as though they had tortured her enough the voices began to fade slightly. Finally she could look up to see what the soft feeling had been on her forehead. She slowly lifted her head, still breathing heavily from her crying. A forget-me-not had bloomed amongst the cobbles of the street. Even though it was dark the stars and moon shone brilliantly onto the petite flower, which shuddered with the weight of its own beauty. Shine slowly reached a shaking hand up and touched a petal on the powder blue flower. It was soft to touch, her finger barely being graced with it's soft touch.

With the reassurance of the flower firmly in her mind and with the voices far off she stood. She struggled to her knees, shaking as she did. It took two tries and for a minute or so she lay back down on the ground. It was cool to her boiling skin, even if she felt cold it was if she was on fire. The second attempt was much more successful and she managed it to her feet. Once on her feet again she stepped slowly, and cautiously, round the little flower. She then moved to the pavement and used the wall as a guide. Shine knew that flower was Chris' last stand, his last gift to the world.  
"How fitting" she whispered, looking down at the small, blue being, "you were his favourite." She then continued, running through her memories of the place.

The first memory was from what she could see in the distance, the charred remains of the Shrine to Sachi, the main god in their religion. Though religion had been officially banned it was a law that went pretty much unnoticed. Shrine maidens were still employed and people still had their smaller shrines at home. Shine's aunt, Korina, had been a shrine maiden from a young age and whenever she grew out of her robes she would give them to Shine. They were nothing like normal traditional wear. They consisted of a red garment that covered the entire body and then a partically opaque white cover went over it, though it only fell as far as the knees. The thing about shrine clothes is they were always very baggy and always very comfortable. Shine had loved them and her aunt dearly.

For a second she reminisced the moment when the glass had stabbed into her leg before seeing something much more important. She grabbed the picture from the pocket of Chip's coat and held it up. Perfect fit. On the bridge was the exact place that Chip and his family had stood together. They had laughed and hugged, thinking life was just going to be easy like it was then. Father back from the army, sons fit and healthy, happy mother. What could possibly go wrong? Shine quickly put away the picture and continued at the thought of this question. She put her head down and walked as quickly as she could. A lot went wrong, that's what. Shine kept her head down until she had completely passed the bridge.  
"I must never bring Chip back here, war or no war" she whispered to herself. To put him through that torture...was inhumane.

She continued and looked to the left at one point. Her old school partially stood, crumbling slowly to nothing. She had spent all of her school life there, from the age of 3 to 13, she now just read to learn and might chance asking people. The school had been huge, worthy of four buildings for class rooms and a huge communal hall for lunch. In the South West Building had been the nursery to 3rd year children, ages 3-7. You were then promoted to the North West Building, that had been for the 4th to 8th year students, so 7-13 and the building that Shine had got as far as. The elder 13-16 students were kept to the South East building and then promoted, having made their life choices, to the 16-18s North East building. Each of these buildings was a dusty red colour with dull, grey, crumbling cement holding them together. It was a stunning example of a hell school, both outside and in, which now lay in rubble...as if it's students had run and won a full scale rebellion. Oh the truth could not be more further away. Shine would give anything to be in the North Eastern Building.

 

The whole city had always been a grey, red and black, smoggy metropolis and it was a surprise, even now, to see the skies so clean. To hear no cars. To hear no people. It really was a ghost town. Shine passed a play park and she could see the children playing there as mere apparitions, laughing as they climbed and ran about. Shine even smiled and continued on her way. She walked past an old café and could hear the mothers gossiping and chatting, occasionally babies crying for attention that they needed. She could hear people shouting at each other in the mechanics garage – what was a metropolis without a place to fix it's endless cars? As she passed a side alley she could hear the talk of elder teens,  
“Come on Shin, go out there and we'll get caught!”  
“We shouldn't be smoking anyway!”  
“Who cares? It won't kill us.”  
“You know, I'm pretty sure it will.”  
“Shut up.” Shine laughed, glad she had had no time to become like that.

Shine suddenly realised there was someone behind her and spun round, grabbed their arms, pushed them both behind their back and kicked them to the floor. They cursed as they smacked into the floor and Shine got her gun out and pointed it right at them.  
“Who are you and why were you following me?” She demanded, glaring. It was a man about her age, dressed all in green save a white family crest. Shine lowered her gun, “Wei, is that you?”  
“Shiro?” He asked as she helped him up, “what are you doing here?”  
“Going to Menoa, might I ask the same of you?” Shine replied.  
“I've lived here since the bombs dropped” Wei answered, “I take it you're part of the military now?”  
“Much against my own wishes but yes” Shine sighed.

 

“Why here then of all places, we aren't in school any more Wei” Shine asked as they began to casually stroll along the main road of the ghost town.  
“No one here, plenty of non perishable food, what's not to like” Wei answered with a shrug. Shine nodded in agreement,  
“You do surprise me though, I would expect you of all people to join an army, not that I knew whether you were alive or not.”  
“I don't know the way to either” Wei replied, adding, “and I wish not to know the way.” Shine got the hint and nodded again, continuing to walk. The next time she turned her head Wei was no where to be seen.

The final place was home. The home she had grown up in. She decided to go in. It was partly intact, the walls had begun to collapse but they were still relatively up right, the only thing was the door had been blown off and one of the windows had shattered. Shine did as she always had done and dusted her feet on the mat outside and took off her shoes. She walked up the once clear path, now strewn with rocks and occasionally glass which she was careful to avoid. She touched the door frame lightly and knocked three times before placing her shoes on the destroyed rack.

She quietly tip toed through the house, as if it were the night she returned far too late and her Dad had shouted at her for half an hour the next day. She knew he was right but it hadn't stopped her answering back. She could see herself and her Dad stood in the kitchen. She was half a foot shorter and had to look up at him, and she'd done nothing but glare all morning when he had brought it up.  
"Why were you out so late?! You could have got yourself in seri-"  
"I was with Chris! Everything was fine!"  
"Why did you interrupt me?"  
"Because you asked a question!"  
"Don't answer back!" Actually...even now it didn't seem to make much sense but she had let it go. He was just worried about her, parents seemed to become illogical when they were worried.

 

Upstairs held few memories, other than bad dreams and the occasional “yelling jokes at each other while we should be sleeping” session she had with her Dad. That was the real reason Shine had been tired on that morning, they'd been yelling stupid jokes at each other until midnight. Shine did go into her room, it looked just the same. Shine hadn't really become a particularly clean person until she became an adult at sixteen so it was no surprise what a mess her room still was. There were clothes strewn all over the floor, a shoe here and there and the bed was left unmade. Exactly as she had left it. The only difference was the amount of spiders in the house...ridiculously huge spiders...it's safe to say she didn't stay in her room that long as they seemed to have all congregated there.

 

The living room held possibly the cruellest memory locked away in Shine's mind. Even as she leant on the door frame it all seemed to be playing out in front of her.

“Mum...what's wrong?” Shiro asked, shaking her mother's shoulder gently.  
“I'm fine Shiro, it's nothing” her Mother smiled, she was lying on their sofa paler than ever, and had been lying there for a good few hours now.  
“Shiro, sweetie, isn't it time you went to bed?” Akane asked, “and leave your mother alone, she's not well.” Shiro turned and frowned at her Dad,  
“But Dad it's only half six” she pointed out.  
“That clock's wrong honey, go to bed Shiro” Akane replied, some what dismissively, yet his voice didn't waver and nor did he stutter so Shiro believed the lie she had been told. She sighed and kissed her Mother good night,  
“Night Mum” she mumbled. Hokana Risa smiled a little and touched her daughter's cheek,  
“You've got to smile, alright?” Shiro beamed at her and Risa laughed, “good night sweetie.”

That was the last time Shine ever saw her mother.

 

Upon leaving the house she was only a few minutes away from sanity. Her chance meeting with Wei wasn't helping, she hadn't been completely sure whether or not she'd been hallucinating. It was completely plausible that he had survived, he hadn't been in school on that day because they'd sent him home with a bug the day before. Then again she had been seeing all sorts since she came into Caobei, it really was the city of madness. Yet she still missed it and the simplicity of the life she had lived. No one had to fight for something they did (or didn't) believe in. Families, or what was left of them, weren't split in two over a full scale war. Nothing had been wrong, she was sure that this was no breath of fresh air for anyone, rich or poor.

 

So, when she was stood on the other side of the city, she turned back just to see the place one more time. Even in destruction it was a monster, reminding people of what life had been like. Shine knew that, when the war was over, someone would try and resurrect Caobei to the former glory it had been. They could not do that. If she was still alive by the end of the war she was going to do all with in her power to stop that. Caobei was a place to be left alone, to show the destruction that started the war.

 

A ghost town should always stay a ghost town.


	19. Home

"Shine?! Shine is that you" Togo called when he spotted the white haired girl who was absolutely filthy stumbling to the house. She looked up momentarily and smiled brightly, her eyes squeezing shut with relief of finally seeing a familiar face. She then feel to her knees and rested her head on the floor. Togo raced down the hill the house was on, almost tripping on stairs and rocks and over his own feet.  
"Shine! Shine! Shine!" He called as he clattered down the hill. Togo came to an unsteady stand still at the bottom of the hill. He knelt and pulled Shine up so she was looking at him.

"Togo?" She mumbled, she then gasped and threw her arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder because she was just so happy to see him. When he pulled away he kept one arm around her waist and helped her stand. She was very unsteady, her body having practically destroyed itself from lack of sleep, food and water.

"Here" he smiled as he walked her up the steps, handing over his water, "I have more so it's fine, drink away."

"Thank you" she mumbled, downing almost all of it in one go before continuing to stumble up the steps with Togo as her support.

 

"Hanbei! Look who I found!" Togo called to the white haired tactician who just so happened to be on the stairs directly in front of the door when they came in."Shir- Shine! Sweet heart is that you?!" He called back, rushing down the stairs. He took her from Togo's arms and kissed her hair again and again, almost squeezing her to death.

"Hey Dad" she smiled weakly as he kissed her forehead a couple of times. She then burst into tears for the second time in about half an hour and hugged him as tightly as she could,

"I love you Dad."

"I love you too Shine" he smiled, "I'm going to keep you safe from now on okay. I'm sorry for what happened." Shine just cried, not completely aware of what Hanbei had said to her.

 

Sooki had come out from one of the rooms to see what all the fuss was about.

"Shine?" She mumbled, her heels clicking down the stairs, "Shine, is that you?" Shine pulled away from Hanbei cautiously, making sure she didn't collapse without lack of support. She smiled at Sooki warmly and almost started crying again when Sooki left the familiar purple smudge on her cheek.

"Come on misses, lets get you some food" Sooki said, her bright white smile present as always, "you look like you haven't eaten in a month."

 

Shine was allowed to stay in her rooms. She stated that she wasn't quite prepared to face too many people just yet. Regardless of this the food she received was excellent. They literally gave her breakfast and lunch all in one. First thrust in front of her was a small plate of grapes, toast and a Oseoto, a fruit native to her country that looked a bit like a cross between a mango and an orange. It was bitter when you first bit into it but left a sweet after taste, making it one of Shine's favourites. She was given black tea, as requested, which she used to get rid of the sweet taste of the Oseoto in between bites. She was then given sweet crab that had been roasted and seasoned with all sorts. The crab, which had been shredded into small strips, also came with rice and a chilli sauce. Though her mouth was practically incinerated by the time she was done Shine ate all of it.

 

"Sooki, where's Hideo" Shine asked as they walked around the gardens, the effect of being somewhere familiar still hadn't quite worn off.

"He went looking for you when you went missing" Sooki answered, quickly adding when she saw the horrified look on Shine's face, "we still have contact with him! Goji sent a message telling him to come back, don't worry." Shine sighed and put a hand on her heart, willing it to slow a little. Sooki smiled,

"You love him, don't you?" Shine nodded in answer, her cheeks going a little rosy. Sooki gave her a reassuring look,"I asked him the same question about you before he set off to find you. He told me to guess for myself. I know him well, it is only if he said no that it would mean no, all other answers mean yes."

"Thank you, Sooki" Shine smiled back.

 

Hideo loved her. Now she just had to hope it was just as much. He was the reason she had refused any of Chip's attempts at kissing and why she had regretted kissing Chip in the first place. It really had made her feel terrible and made her miss Hideo even more. She wasn't going to blame it anyone but herself, she knew it was her fault and nothing or no one else's. Shine had never strictly been in love before, sure she'd experienced the 'awkward crush on your best friend' phase but this was very different.

"Did Goji tell him why he had to come back?" Shine asked, sitting on one of the benches in front of the lilies. She hated them but could not deny their beauty.

"Actually he sounded as grim as he could, I think he wants to surprise him" Sooki smiled, inspecting the roses. Shine laughed a little,

"Quite the surprise it will be."

 

Shine, after spending quite some time in the shower, spent the remainder of the afternoon in her rooms, reading. Since the 3 and a half years had passed she and her father had come into the possession of many more books that were in English. Along with this Goji had tasked her with translating them into Hitonara, their language, whenever she had spare time and had bought her an English dictionary along with an Ennara (their word for English) to Hitonara one. In terms of writing and reading her fluency was admirable but having her speak often ended in a disaster as Chip had learnt. While she was doing this endless work someone knocked on the door.

"Come in" she called, only looking up when she heard the door click shut, "Togo, what a pleasant surprise, is something the matter?"

"Oh speak normally girl" he replied, rolling his eyes with a smile, "Big Politician wants you down in the hall."

"Thanks Togo, I'll be down in a second" Shine smiled.

 

"Ah, here you are Shine, I'm glad to see you alive and mostly well" Goji smiled, "we'll make sure you get good meals to get you healthy again."

"Thank you" Shine smiled brightly.

"And by my prediction 3...2...1" Goji started counting down for something and as he said one the door opened.

"Good day Goji. I'm afraid we could not loca-" Hideo stopped midway through the sentence and stared. Goji let a small slip of a smile show on his face before turning and leaving, paying no heed to what Hideo may or may not have intended to say.

 

The very second Goji was out of the room Hideo practically ran across the room and picked Shine up, swinging her round, his arms tight around her waist. They had to grab at each other for balance when he put her down, sending them into fits of giggles.

"I was so worried about you" he smiled, as he couldn't seem to stop, "but now you're here and I know you're safe and" he stopped talking and kissed her cheek a couple of times before dotting a very gentle kiss on her lips. It was a little different to when they had kissed before. It wasn't just part of some dance or one of those weird ones that had some how found its way into normality. It was like the one they'd shared just before he left to go and fight. It was a little clumsy and he kind of missed, bumping noses with her as he did. Shine paid little attention to his and wrapped her arms around him, bending her elbows so she could hold onto his back, her hands eventually gripping his shoulders. When they finally pulled away, breathless, they stepped from foot to foot together, smiling.

"I...I love you" Shine mumbled, a little nervous.

"I love you too" Hideo smiled, rubbing his nose against hers and kissing her again.

 

"Come on, lets dance Shine" he smiled, wrapping one arm around her waist and taking her hand with the other. They slow danced around pretty much the entire hall, only able to smile at each other and stare into the other's eyes.

"All I need is a rose, don't you think" Hideo laughed. Shine giggled and he pecked her on the cheek.

"I am glad you're okay though" Hideo smiled, "you have no idea how worried I was about you. I honestly thought you were dead when I came back having lost contact with Hanbei. Shine when I came back he was crying so much and I knew what was wrong. I couldn't bare the thought of losing you."

"Hideo...that sounds so..." Shine took a deep breath before she said this because she knew it was going to mess things up considerably, "empty." Hideo sighed and looked away,

"I know it does. Every guy's said that kind of thing. I mean it though."

"I'm sorry I said that, I shouldn't have that was just plain mean" Shine sighed, resting her head on Hideo's shoulder.

"It's fine, you've been in a cell for weeks and then made it back here on your own" he reassured her.

"You really shouldn't try and defend what I say" Shine mumbled, eyes closed, "it'll just delude you. If I annoy you or whatever don't just let it slide."

"I won't" he promised.

 

They soon had to leave as things had to be set out for dinner so they took to walking through the grounds together.

"People aren't going to approve of this" Shine sighed, "even if our coming of age is 16..."

"Then we'll just keep it secret for the next three months, we can do that I'm sure" Hideo replied, "and it's not like we can't get away with much."

"I suppose, but still, now I know we love each other I want to spend more time with you. I don't feel like I'm bothering you" Shine mumbled.

"Oh sweet heart, you've never bothered me" Hideo reassured her, kissing her on the cheek. Shine smiled a little and squeezed his hand,

"Maybe we could meet here, in the gardens. No one comes to this bit because everyone hates the lilies and it's always cold at night so it's not as if anyone wants to" she suggested.

"Then we will do just that" Hideo smiled.


	20. The New Trainees

"Here, like this" Shine smiled, straightening the aim of the girl, "3, 2, 1. Fire!" All fourteen of the new trainees fired at once and almost all got perfect hit. Hideo appeared from behind the row of targets he'd been looking over,  
"Pretty much all perfect" he grinned.  
"Well what more can they expect with the General and top commander training them together" Shine laughed, "alright you lot, go get your lunch." The kids started chatting among themselves as they made their way up the hill towards the big house. Shine smiled at Hideo and made her way to a bench that they had moved down their so they could spend more time on the training grounds. Someone pulled on the tail of Shine's jacket and she spun to see the girl who's aim she had straightened.  
"I-I-I just thought I'd say thank you. I've never been good with aim..." she beamed. Shine smiled back,  
"Don't worry about it, neither was I and even now Hideo can still beat me fair and square."  
"Thank you Miss Hokana!" The little girl giggled, hugged Shine's waist and then ran off to her friends.

"Look at you, I never knew you liked children so much" Hideo laughed, hugging Shine from behind and resting his chin on her shoulder, "want one of your own yet?"  
"Oh goodness me no" Shine laughed, "nope, not happening."  
"It's alright" Hideo laughed, "it wasn't a hint, I was kidding. It'd be madness to have a kid now anyway."  
"Yeah, utter madness" Shine agreed, though her voice was a little distant, "Hideo let me go." He let go and she grabbed one of the loaded guns and suddenly raced off into the forest.  
"Shine!" Hideo yelled after her, "god, what's got into that woman." He grabbed another of the guns and chased after her.

Shine was chasing after someone whom she had spotted leaving via the forest. That was strictly prohibited, as was entering, and she had broken the rule once when she finally returned after her week long escape. The person was a fast runner and very good at avoiding roots and other obstacles but Shine was definitely fitter than she had been. She managed to grab their arm and yank them back before slamming them into a tree.  
"Alright, who are you" she snapped, holding their arm up behind their back.  
"Not telling" they hissed, fighting to breath as she pressed them harder into the tree.  
"Come on, or I'll shoot you, so tell me" Shine threatened, and asked, when she got no reply, "you're a spy aren't you. Yes, I know your face, you just always happen to be there when we're talking about something important."  
"Shine what the hell do you think you're doing?" Hideo demanded when he finally caught up with her.  
"Spy" she answered, "hey, you got a family?"  
"No" they spat.  
"Good" Shine sighed, she let them go only to shoot them before they could get away. Another rule; on the discovery of a spy execute them immediately.

"Well what do you know" Hideo muttered as they searched the man's coat, "you were right." He pulled out a notebook that had all of their recent plans written down in perfect detail. Clearly they had been taken while been spoken as Hanbei's ramblings were on there as well. Shine grinned and took her head set out and put it on.  
"Hey, Mabs, do us a favour and hook me up to Golden boy would you?" She asked. Mabs was the person who ran the com system. She was rarely seen, some people didn't even know what she looked like but she was clearly trusted as of the position she'd been given so no one batted an eyelid.  
"Alright, you're through, he had to pick a ridiculous name didn't he. Ugh, alright, I'm off" Mabs replied.  
"Yo, Shine, what's up?" Asked Golden Boy.  
"Don't 'yo' me and it's Commander Hokana to you" Shine snapped, "look, we've, that's Hideo and I, found and dispatched an enemy spy and we need a team to come pick up the body."  
"I'll send one out....now" Golden Boy replied, "co please." Shine glanced at Hideo for the co-ordinates as he had his maps up already and relayed them.  
"Need us to stay here?" Shine asked.  
"Nah, it'll be fine" Golden boy answered, "signing off."  
"Signing off" Shine replied before taking off the headset and flicking it off.  
"Wow you really hate that guy, don't you" Hideo laughed.  
"Reading me like a book as usual" Shine smiled.

"So, what horrors do I have to look forward to now I'm twenty?" Shine asked when they got back to the bench.  
"People thinking that you're more responsible than you were but really you're still a child internally" Hideo grinned. However he saw that Shine was staring blankly at the table and her shoulders were shaking. He quickly got up and went round, sitting behind her and hugging her.  
"Alright, it's just me" he reassured her, rubbing her arms gently, "come on. Breath in" he stopped for about ten seconds, "breath out." He repeated this until she had stopped shaking and had turned around and buried her face in his chest.  
"I'm sorry" she mumbled, her voice very muffled.  
"It's alright, you don't need to be sorry, these things happen and that's okay" Hideo replied, gently rocking her back and forth while stroking her hair. After a while she pulled away and rubbed her eyes,  
"I'm okay now" she smiled a little.  
"You sure?" Hideo asked, slipping his hands down to her waist. She nodded and smiled a little more.

They ate their lunch, which was left overs from dinner, and then took to sparring. As Shine had said her aim wasn't as good as she'd like but no one could match her with a sword. Lots came close but none ever quite did it.  
"You're taking it easy on me" Hideo complained, "come on baby, show me what you got."  
"Oh don't tempt me" Shine giggled but with an elegant twist disarmed Hideo in one go. He put his hands up and froze, "got ya" Shine giggled. Hideo smiled,  
"Yeah, you got me."  
"How long have we got until the kids come back?" Shine asked, unbuckling her sheath and placing it by the guns.  
"Good half an hour" Hideo answered, "oh, I see." He sat on the bench again and pulled Shine onto his lap, kissing her madly.

They got as far as necks before they heard a tell tale noise of,  
"Eww!" from one of the kids.  
"Oh you'll learn how fun it is in a few years" Shine laughed getting up and putting her hands on her hips, standing at an angle.  
"Alright you lot, remind me what the three virtues of warfare are?" Shine grinned.  
"Aim, point and stamina" the kids replied.  
"That's right. Aim for your gun, point for your sword and stamina so you don't drop dead mid-battle" Shine smiled, "now I've already tested your aim and stamina today so now it's for sword. Pair up and start sparring! Try not to kill each other, I know enough people with only one eye." She walked around the pairs, correcting various mistakes and yelling at anyone who got too into it.  
"Enough people with one eye?" Hideo asked.  
"Oh, alright two and I only really know one and I've not seen him for four years" Shine answered.

"Commander, General" said a voice.  
"Oh, Hyuazaki, how are you?" Hideo asked. Shine rolled her eyes before turning round and greeting Hyuazaki with a warm smile. Hyuazaki, whom everyone remembered as Hyou, had changed his name as he found that he became a laughing stock because it meant legend. He also resented the fact he was no where near Shine's position so couldn't call himself a legend anyway. He also still resented Shine and Shine returned the hostility.  
"I'm well thank you" he replied, "yourselves? I trust the trainees are doing well enough to pass." This was a statemant rather than a question and Shine glared at him,  
"They're doing far more than enough to pass thank you Captain" she hissed. Hideo grabbed Shine's arm and smiled again,  
"We're well thank you Hyuazaki. Is there something you wish to talk to us about?" Hyuazaki sighed and handed over two posters,  
"Thought you might like to see what Sooki was putting up this morning. You like this kind of thing."

International Fayre, Menoa City Centre  
Foods, Goods and entertainment from countries all over the world  
Run by natives of said countries

"Huh, I bet this is all Sooki" Shine muttered, glad to see Hyuazaki gone, "Oi! You two, stop trying to stab each other, just sparring!"  
"Wouldn't surprise me, she's about as interested in foreigners as they are in us" Hideo replied, "we've been a closed country for so long it's hardly unexpected."  
"Well it's bloody unexpected when we're in a civil war. Then again, that weekend is Sachi's weekend and that's kind of like, what do they call it now, Christmas that's it" Shine shrugged as she suggested the reasoning.  
"Suppose, there's usually a stop of conflict for that entire week really. If there's one thing we all love it's what was public holidays" Hideo agreed, "well that and a time to bury the dead." Hideo shuddered a little and then looked back at the poster, "oh look there's a dance." Shine glanced at him, hoping that her "please don't be traditional, please don't be traditional" thought was not showing on her face.  
"And it's all traditional dancing" Hideo added. Shine put her head in her hands and slumped on the table,  
"Look your best and practice your English, there will be foreigners taking pictures and asking us things."

Despite her apprehension and distaste to the idea of an international gathering Shine was actually quite excited about it. She always had been and, while breaking many rules, had done her best to get her hands on any kind of foreign material, all of it had started with the fact her best friend was a foreigner. When the communists had come in it all got a little complicated with the foreigners. They had all, each and every one of them, been moved to the capital and given the highest of luxury. However any communication they sent home was modified greatly as many of them knew exactly what went on anyway and they never got any real replies, they were all written by the government. To be fair there weren't many foreigners in the country anyway, there was a country that used to have a military base but the communists saw to that being gone within a month. There was an extremely small native English population to the south but they had all run away...or at least the few who got that far, after the war started.

Actually come to think of it there was a native English speaker within the Government here, she worked alongside Shine sometimes. Shine couldn't quite remember the woman's name, she was a year or so younger than Shine, but she definitely knew that she was some sort of weird apprentice of Hanbei, who, like his name sake, was very conscious of his poor health.  
"Hideo" Shine started.  
"Yes?" He replied, looking up at her from whatever he was writing down in his some what untidy scrawl.  
"What's the name of that girl my Dad's tutoring, the English one?" Shine asked. Hideo sat up and stuck his pen in his mouth, thinking as he chewed the end.  
"Something weird, definitely has a sound in it that we don't have. Jersey? Well we say it Jersshi but never mind" Hideo eventually answered, "why?" Shine shrugged,  
"Just been thinking about foreigners. I mean my best friend was one, the one who was erm..." she stopped and Hideo reached across the table and squeezed her hand gently, "yeah, that but I mean I don't think I've ever met anyone who's not from here, except him and his Mum, and Jersey of course."  
"Well with new things comes new experiences" Hideo grinned.  
"Sometimes I worry you're made of cheese" Shine sighed with a little smile.

“So” Hideo asked, leaning across the table and walking two fingers up Shine's arm, “are you planning on going to dinner tonight?”  
“Oh why, you planning something” she laughed, pushing him off.  
“Maybe just a little time to ourselves” he suggested. Shine was about to answer but her attention was caught be one of the pairs and she ran over, just managing to stop one brutally murdering the other. It didn't end quite as well as Shine would have liked mind, as she managed to acquire a deep cut across her hip. Shine bit into her lip and forced herself to keep standing. She took the sword from the girl and tossed it the other way, well, well away from anyone close by. She then slapped her, emitting a load crack, and declared the training session over.

With the kids gone Shine stopped making herself stand and collapsed, the usual white leggings she wore now completely drenched.  
“Shine are you alright?” Hideo asked, rushing over to her.  
“Do I look it” she snapped. He said nothing and picked her up, practically running back with her. Shine did think about sticking her fist in her mouth so she could conceal any shriek of pain but decided not to, scared she might just knock one of her teeth out. Hideo had to bang on the door into the infirmary several times.  
“Jie if you don't open this door” he started, his voice reaching a stupidly loud volume. Finally, Jie, a stubborn and childish boy, opened the door and let them in.

Shine had always, without fail, hated hospitals of any description and held a lasting grudge against doctors. Just because she didn't like going in. She was scared of what she'd see there, especially now. This particular hospital of course was not just for the members of the government, no, no, but for the entire population of Menoa that, with everyone they accepted, was reaching at least 6 million. Now considering the fact the population of the entire country was only 35 million that was a lot of people. Menoa also wasn't the safest place, you went out of the streets in the view of the government then you'd find gangs round every corner. Of course the Government knew about this issue and they had promised to help it just seemed to “escape their minds” while they feasted on the finest food. 

Now Hideo did his very best to keep Shine away from these views and he wasn't exactly in the wrong when he did it either. He knew that she knew what was going on so it wasn't like he was completely sealing her off but he just didn't want her to see it. After having several break down worthy things happen to her – Chris and Yosh's deaths were a good example – and from a young age as well it had begun to take proper effect. Thinking that it would be better to keep her out of the madness of war the General promoted her to top commander, someone who rarely fought on the battlefield. Yet it only seemed to get worse from there. She was still perfectly sound of mind on the battlefield, she knew what she had to do so she did it. Yet recently, with lack of war to fight, the littlest things had begun to set off what the doctors had called PTSD or, in full, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

It hadn't actually gone too bad for Shine recently, aside from killing the spy earlier on, even if the war had been in a stalemate. It had begun a few months earlier when it became clear that anything the communists did the Capitalists could counter attack with ease and vice versa. So with this firmly implanted on the two armies the Government decided that, for while it lasted, they were going to train as many new recruits as they could and develop as much of their technology as they could. As far as Shine was concerned both were going excellently. Yet there was a very small rumour that may just jeopardize everything and throw the country into total war once again. The Communists and requested help from foreign countries.

 

It was a very quick patch up, it hadn't quite gone as deep as had been thought so it wasn't like Shine wouldn't be walking. However she was advised to leave the training to someone else, much to her displeasure as she knew exactly who that would be. Hyuazaki.  
“Keep him in check won't you” Shine asked.  
“I'll do my best, he's not an easy man to talk down to once he's put into some kind of power” Hideo sighed.   
“Well, I'd rather a bastard taught them for a day than one of them ended up dead. I really should investigate that at some point” Shine replied, rubbing her eyes.  
“I'm sure it was just too into the moment, the kids do know they're going to war some day, this stalemate won't last forever, I imagine it does no good to them” Hideo suggested. Shine nodded and yawned.

Hyuazaki was indeed the irritating, full of himself bastard Shine had expected him to be. He yelled a lot and seemed to forget the kids were well, kids. Shine and Hideo did their best to, while not be patronizing, not expect them to know intricate details about the war and they were in no way patriotic. Like Shine many of the kids were just fighting because they had to, because their parents did. They didn't care, it was just a family matter.

“How was he then” Shine asked when Hideo came in, Hanbei having told him he was welcome at any time. Hideo leaned down and kissed her gently,  
“Terrible” he sighed, “made a few of the kids cry and managed to piss off Kong. No one pisses off Kong.” Kong was the big kid. The kid who was scared everyone and who was only ever paired with a friend as not to cause anyone any damaged. The kids, and Shine and Hideo as well, had been careful not to annoy Kong and he had even come across as quite pleasant by this point. It just seemed that Hyuazaki was a moron and couldn't keep his mouth shut.

“Shine! Hideo! I'm going to a meeting and I won't be back until very late so try not to be too weird while I'm gone” Hanbei called to them.  
“Dad stop it, we're in our 20s!” Shine yelled back, rolling her eyes a little. Hideo laughed as they heard him shut the door,  
“Do you know what we should do? We should really, really annoy your Dad.”   
“You know you're not going to get far with this if you're going to be like that” Shine replied, shaking her head.  
“Well he's not here” Hideo replied. Shine sighed,  
“Alright fine.”

So an hour or so later they were snuggled together, content and happy with one another. Yet, as with every peaceful moment with the wind down from such high emotion, there just had to be that one thought that would disturb it.  
“Shine, you really hate it here, don't you?” Hideo asked, hugging her shoulders a little tighter, “since you came back, you've been different. Even though they imprisoned you, you are still a communist aren't you?”  
“Oh how did you guess” Shine sighed, “yes, I am. Since then they just...seemed better. I told you about how they imprison people and how much better it is. I miss my old life so much, so, so, much. Even...even though I know it was awful for so many people. I...just wish it was the paradise that they made it out to be. If I could bring that back then I'd make sure it didn't fall into such a terrible state.”  
“Bless you” Hideo sighed, kissing her gently, “you poor, poor thing.”


	21. From Chaos to Tranquillity

Much to Shine's excitement the day of the festival came very quickly and she was quickly in traditional dress and out on the streets of Menoa. She rushed about the streets, practically dragging Hideo by the hand with her, intent on hearing every language and seeing everything. So many colours! She was left breathless as she rushed about the sea if people, a music of alien words playing and her eyes in a sea of not only colours of clothes and food and art but of people. There were people even paler than she was, she never knew such people existed!

The smell that roared like fire from each stall had her dizzy. The tang of vinegar. The sweetness of Kasutera. The accents. Cockney, Mancunian, Glaswegian, West Coast, East Coast, Northern, Southern, Toronto, Calgary, French Canadian, Moscow, Berlin, Beijing, Luoyang, Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Bordeaux. While the rush of people, eating and buying were the dancers, the words that fell from there tongues was the music they danced to. The very world was ringing in Shine's ears, manipulating her taste buds, enticing her eyes, having her legs shake with excitement. This was what she wanted. To have equality in everything while still being free to explore this world of wonder.

“What do you think then?” Hideo asked, the day had passed and it was now approaching midnight. They were leaning on the railing at the peer, Hideo with his arms around Shine's waist.  
“It's amazing!” Shine laughed, leaning back and kissing him softly. He gave her waist a squeeze as he kissed back and rubbed his nose against hers when she pulled away. Hideo slipped a hand into his pocket, letting his fingers brush over one of the most important things in the world before quickly putting his arm back around Shine's waist.

“Say, Shine, what's your real name?” He asked quietly before gently placing kisses on her neck.  
“I...I thought you knew” Shine replied, sounding quite surprised.  
“No, I don't, it's only fair, you don't know mine” he sighed, messing about with the ribbon that covered the clasps on her dress.  
“It's Shiro” she answered, smiling a little, “please, tell me yours.”  
“Akai, Tori Akai” he answered, “it's kind of backwards, it's supposed to mean red bird but my Dad was a fan of “being discrete” so me and my brothers all ended up with funny sounding names.”  
“I like it” Shiro smiled, “I love you, Akai.”  
“I love you too, Shiro.” 

“I think something's wrong” Shiro suddenly muttered. Akai frowned at her and let go,  
“What do you mean?”  
“Big international gathering, this doesn't seem right. It's been nagging all day really, but why would we have a big gathering in the middle of a civil war” Shiro replied, she grabbed his hand and pulled her with him again, “we need to go and find out exactly who suggested this.”

“Sooki! Sooki!” Shiro called as she dragged Akai into the main hall, he was practically tripping over the traditional robe he had to ware.  
“Yes dear, whatever is the matter?” Sooki asked, quite alarmed by Shine being so loud for once.  
“I want to know who organised this. I know you partook but who's idea was it?” Shine asked, panting.  
“Why, that would be Mr Gatchou, the man over there” Sooki nodded, “he's quite new to this, he's just defected to us.”

“Sooki we need to get everyone out now. He's going to kill us” Shine stated, though despite her monotone she actually looked quite scared.   
“Oh my dear, don't be worried” Sooki laughed, “he's a lovely man, he wouldn't do such a thing.”  
“Sooki, honestly, this is an awful idea. He's going to kill us” Shine snapped.  
“Dear, aught you to leave this” Hideo sighed, placing a hand on her arm. All he got was a steely glare. Shine was serious.

Again and again Sooki dismissed Shine's worries until, after much shouting, Hideo dragged her out.  
“Come on” he sighed, pulling a struggling Shine through the town centre, his own fuse very much burnt out. He dragged her all the way back to the forest in the grounds of the government buildings and pushed her against a tree.  
“What the hell were you thinking?!” He snapped at her, “Shouting that for all the world to hear!”  
“Because it's going to happen, all the world does need to hear because it's on our doorstep” Shine snapped back, doing her best to wriggle free from his grip, sounds of gasps and hastily drawn breaths filling the air around them.

Even after the shuffle of clothes Shine was hardly happy with the situation.  
“I don't understand how you can brush this off Akai” she hissed at him, her glare having returned rather quickly.   
“I believe you Shine, but sometimes something are just more practical” he replied, shaking his head. Shine grabbed his shoulders,  
“Akai, this is human lives. They can be brushed off or forgotten. Forget being polite. People are going to die!” Yet there it was. Shine never thought it would come back to haunt her. Not now anyway.

The low drone of military planes.

Surprisingly she did not run or collapse or do anything you'd quite expect her to. No, she turned around and slapped Akai. It emitted an almighty crack and his head moved with the force of the hit. He didn't retaliate, just stood there and listened to the drone of the planes as his cheek stung, staring back at Shine. He could see the hate welling up inside her, the tears filling her eyes.  
“We're going to die, aren't we” Shine asked.  
“Yes, we're going to die” Hideo snapped, “damn it girl! No we're not, come on, we've still got time.” Hideo grabbed Shine's offending hand and dragged her across the grass.

The screams grew louder and louder and the realisation suddenly came to Shine that, if they couldn't do enough, they were going to be thrown into an international war. Then they really were going to die. For a second she stopped and her arm was almost wrenched from it's socket but with that second, that single second of doubt, she was suddenly pushed. She had to do everything to stop that happening. 

Yet waiting for them was Goji and Shine almost exploded with rage at hearing his orders.  
“All residents of the Master House retreat! Leave the people! Retreat!”   
“Goji you can't do that” Shine shrieked in anger. Goji turned and glared at her,  
“Commander Hokana know your role, if I don't do this our armed forces will be destroyed!”  
“Leave our people for dead and throw ourselves into an international war?! You care too damn much for your own life” Hideo snapped over the now roar of the planes, ready to strike at any second. Hideo then grabbed Goji and pushed his head down with his elbow before swiftly hitting him on the back of the neck.

“You two, take the Prime Minister back to the house so his sorry hide is safe” Hideo roared, “the rest of us into the city. We cannot afford to lose any civilian lives. Children are the most important.” The two soldiers, both only 15, rushed forward and grabbed the fallen coward and ran back to the house with him while all others turned to the city and charged to it, intent only on rescue.  
“You're going to be killed for that, you know that don't you” Shine sighed as someone ran to her with her coat that had her gun in it, along with her sword.  
“I know” Hideo sighed, “but at least everyone else will be safe.” Shine shivered and turned, grabbing Hideo's lips with her own, clashing cheekbones before pulling away,  
“Don't you dare die on me. General Akai.”  
“Don't you dare die on me. Commander Shiro.”

They were completely unprepared. There were only two anti-aircraft guns they had were small, old, difficult to operate and situated only around the damn house. This was going to be no use at all. There were no lights to locate the planes, no way of telling where the bombs were going to drop as they didn't make the characteristic whistling sound and hadn't for years. Regretfully Shine's turned on her headset and asked Mabs to patch her through to Hideo and to get out of the house as fast as she could and get somewhere safe.

“Is there a problem, Shine?” Hideo asked, watching the city carefully, Hanbei stood beside him doing the same.  
“We can't evacuate them to the underground passages. Who knows how powerful these bombs are, if we take them there then everyone is as good as dead. You'll need to send back a suicide squad to make it look like we're still going there and switch off all the street lamps.”  
“Understood” Hideo replied, he then relayed the information to Hanbei who agreed and Shine heard,  
“I'll stay to oversee the s squad.”  
“We'll stay” Hideo replied.  
“No! You can't” Shine snapped, “you stay then we have no one with a sound mind to run this damn thing!”  
“Shiro” Akai snapped.  
“No!”  
“Yes. You're in charge now. Do as you see fit.”  
“But”  
“That's an order, Shiro!”

With her headset abruptly cut off Shine's next job was to get everyone to safety.   
“4Th Regiment put out all of the lights that aren't electrical! 3Rd rifles patrol the outer city, make sure no one is left!” With must persistence and regrettable threats everyone was soon being marched in the opposite direction. Towards Caobei. Slowly the street lamps faded and yet still the drones continued on and on and on.  
“Dammit why haven't they dropped any yet” Togo hissed, he, Hyuazaki and Golden Boy had been named as hasty commanders of the separate regiments.  
“They'll do it when we'll leave. They know” Hyuazaki replied. Yet they didn't know. They couldn't have known. Not now. Shine had just sent 1500 people to their deaths...for no reason.

Neither was this simply the case. Just as Hyuazaki had predicted as Shine placed her second foot out of the city gates one of the bombs fell and hit. They were powerful. So very powerful. It dropped in the middle of the city but the sound sprinted through the air, reaching Wei in Caobei 2 days away. The actual explosion threw Shine and most of the rear off their feet and across the crowd, crashing into them and crushing anyone under them. Shine crashed not into a person but shot off to the side and simply hit the floor.

It was almost the exact same. The screams echoing about the air, filling every space with no where to go. The touch of orange that danced across her vision, her home once again burning. The stampede of feet, running for someone safe. There was a voice screaming at the people to keep to the path and to keep walking forward. Forward. Forward! FORWARD! Nothing else mattered just keep going forward. Ignore the people under your feet. Ignore more bombs being dropped on your homes. Just go forward. Shine then gave in and slowly closed her eyes. Nothing more to see or hear or feel. Just silent, black tranquillity.


	22. More Commies and Caps

Shine woke up as she was tugged into an uncomfortable hug, her head not being supported at all. The person who was hugging her hugged her too tight and buried their face in her neck.  
“Hyu-Hyuazaki” Shine mumbled, guessing it was him as she got a glimpse of white and neither Togo nor Golden Boy had white hair. Her voice was hoarse and her throat stung as the words dropped from her lips. He didn't say anything, just lay her down and smiled at her,  
“It's good to see you, General.”

It never quite registered with Shine that Hyuazaki had called her general. He gave her water and the little food to spare. Still it didn't register. He took her to see Togo and Golden Boy, who had all been relatively okay, though Togo had broken a couple of fingers as he hit the ground. This was when it finally registered.  
“General. We have only two op-” Golden Boy started. Yet Shine's attention was caught by something else,  
“What did you call me?” There was an awkward pause,  
“General” Togo answered. Shine sighed,  
“Don't tell me the options just yet, tell me what happened. To Menoa.” Togo sighed,   
“You two stay here” he said as he stood up, “Shine come with me.”

Shine was led by the hand to the every edge of Caobei and could see smoke rising off in the distance.  
“Shine, you've been as-”  
“Just call me Shiro” she sighed, still holding Togo's hand,  
“Alright, Shiro, you've been out for 4 days. That smoke is Menoa. I'm sorry.” Shine froze and her grip on Togo's hand slackened. Lost for words she began a graceful descent to her knees, all while woe and madness danced around her.  
“They're dead...aren't they.” Togo gave her no answer, just ruffled her hair as he had done when she was a teenager,  
“Sorry kid.”

He left her there, motionless as she stared at the smoke rising from Menoa. Shine wondered if she carried a curse with her. At the happiest she'd been Caobei had been destroyed. At the happiest she'd been Menoa had been destroyed. At the happiest she'd been she'd lost Chris. At the happiest she'd been she'd lost Akai. At the happiest she'd been she'd lost her Mother. At the happiest she'd been she'd lost her Father. Shine just couldn't be happy without tragedy striking. She'd be better off...

“Rough, huh?” Asked a voice, gentle and soothing, “feeling like you can't be happy without something awful happening?” Shine turned her head to see Golden Boy, hands in his pockets and his hood up.  
“Yeah, rough” she nodded, turning back and leaning to the side so she was actually sat and not kneeling. Golden Boy came and plonked himself beside her,  
“It's not easy losing someone you love, trust me, I know.” He patted her hand gently and smiled at her. Shine sighed and looked away,  
“How can you smile so brightly when this has just happened?” Yet she added just as sadly, “I'm jealous.”

“It's all forced” Golden Boy muttered, brushing the dust off his boots, “but who else is going to do it. Anyway, my name suggests I'm the ultimate ray of sunshine so it's kind of become mandatory.”   
“So you're living as a façade of someone else?” Golden Boy gave a quiet laugh,  
“How could you guess?” He looked up at the sky and sighed, “I was a dumb kid. I got married when I was 16, as you can probably guess by my skin tone I'm from far down south so the war didn't really get to us that much. Then it did. Man, it hit us hard.” He gave an awkward chuckle and a sigh, “it wasn't even a town, it was a village. There were 450 people in it. One of us survived. One.”  
“You” Shine sighed. Golden Boy nodded,  
“They killed everyone. Every single child. Every single woman. Every single man. Perhaps I'm being a little harsh on you but trust me, you don't want to see the love of your life gunned down in front of you.”  
“No, you're not being harsh, you're right. I count myself lucky” Shine mumbled. Yet Golden Boy wasn't listening and uttered three words that must have ruined him,  
“She was pregnant.”

Shine slid her hand across the dusty, broken ground of Caobei and took Golden Boy's hand gently, willing herself for once not to wince at the feeling of leather. For a minute he did nothing, not returning the gesture at all, just staring up at the sky's cruel light blue. So, so very peaceful over such a torn land. Such a beautiful thing to protect the broken. The broken who could only rely on one another to piece themselves together again. Even if the bonds were temporary they would stay, fixed in their place until both were lost. Golden Boy seemed to know what Shine as thinking and gripped her hand,  
“We're gonna change the world.”

Shine finally felt that she could face the options that Togo and Hyuazaki were going to give her and slowly rose to her feet.  
“Where are you going?” Golden Boy asked, staring at Menoa.  
“I want to know what our options our. If I can end this war I will” Shine answered. She had her back to him, no wishes to see the new ghost town that had sprung up. It was vaguely windy, Shine's long white hair continually shifted slightly to the left.  
“Tell me them later” he sighed. Shine sighed,  
“Alright.” She then left him, to think and to mourn.

When Shine came back into the tent Togo and Hyuazaki both looked up in surprise, they certainly hadn't expected her to come back particularly soon. They both looked a mess. Togo's normally very tidy hair had slumped and fallen about his face, it got in his eyes and there were cuts all over his face and his shirt was torn. Hyuazaki's hair was no longer white but rather a brownish colour from all the filth that had gotten in it while his favourite leather jacket was tarnished and essentially ruined.   
“Go on, tell me our options then” Shine said.

“We have 2 logical options” Togo started, “the one that looks the easiest is to simply surrender. It only makes sense, our capital and military base has been destroyed, we have no supplies, they bombed the shit out of them as well, and no leader that isn't a mess either. My apologies of course, but you're reputation for being completely loyal to the capitalist regime isn't excellent.”  
“You're not wrong” Shine nodded, dismissing any kind of insult she could have taken, “what is the other then?”  
“We could make a plea for international help” Hyuazaki answered, “then we have a chance of winning. The country that helped out the commies are commies themselves, and you know how uncommon they are in the rest of the world. The only problem is we're not part of the World Alliance, so much help we'd great from them is questionable.”

Shine gave a sigh,  
“We got any more or is that it? I can think of a good few problems with both of them. We surrender we risk getting ourselves massacred by our own side, the soldiers here are still armed and I doubt they'd react well. The other, well as Hyuazaki said this won't be easy as we're not a member of the WA.”  
“Well...we could try building the capital back up as a military base” Togo muttered.  
“Hmm, that seems a little extensive and neigh on impossible” Hyuazaki commented. Shine ignored Hyuazaki and picked up her sword which lay neatly next to her gun.

She inspected it as Togo and Hyuazaki stared at her back, just waiting for an answer. She left them in silence and confusion for a little longer as she set it down and then tied her hair up with the ribbon that had been on the sword handle. Hyuazaki frowned and was about to say something but Togo held up his hand and shook his head. Shine grabbed the sword again and lifted it slowly. It suddenly felt heavy in her hand and Shine had to grip it hard so she didn't drop it. Shine gave a gentle sigh and then lifted the sword and began to cut through her thick white hair. It took a couple of saws but the ponytail separated and fell into her hand. She then pulled the ribbon free from what was left and tousled it about a little,  
“I want someone to go inspect Menoa before we decide. For now I want a temporary peace treaty sent to the commies.” 

Of course things did not all go to plan. There was a massive backlash when the peace treaty was announced but, really hoping she was doing right, Shine carried it out anyway. The people didn't want it because they didn't trust the communists and a vast majority wanted to go home to their countries, not get caught up in this. Shine did feel bad but at the minute she was concentrating on them not getting bombed again, then she would organise flights. Anyway, if she was sweet enough to the commie that turned up then perhaps the airport they had under their control in the south may be put back in use.

Yet the commie who turned up was not a commie that Shine wanted to see.

“General, they're almost here” Togo said, poking his head round the tent door. His hair was once again back to it's normal standard as he, along with many, had raided the items left in the supermarket that might provide a little comfort. He had found some hair spray and perhaps found a little bit too much joy in it. Shine gave a sigh and smiled, abandoning the old book she had found in her house, she had been back and scared off the spiders that had now taken over the entire thing. A German family had now taken refuge there while she stayed in the tent at the top of the town where she could still see Menoa. It had stopped smoking by then but it was still an unpleasant sight to see. Knowing there was no point in dawdling Shine stood up, pulled on her coat and followed Togo out into the streets of Caobei. 

Walking about Caobei was surprisingly nicer than it had been before, the people had worked wonders on it since they'd arrived a week before, even with the little that they had. Food was beginning to dwindle significantly but people just seemed to be soldiering on, as if it was nothing. One particular family, a half Hitoan (Shine's country) and half French, had found a cow that had once belonged to one of the farms that had surrounded Caobei and were doing there best to feed who they could. Shine could hear it in the distance, mooing rather loudly. 

Venison had become a common meal, though it wasn't the classic bow and arrow they were caught with but rather the soldiers with guns going off into a forest. They didn't always come back with meat but they usually came back with something edible, still all food went the children, with a little set aside for the three pregnant women among their ranks. The adults survived on whatever was left over. 

The streets were lively, children ran about, swerving in and out of busy adults who were using what they had found to made temporary repairs on houses that weren't quite fit to live in any more and at the head of the town stood Wei. It had turned out that he hadn't been a hallucination and had carried on surviving even 4 years later. He had put himself in charge of making Caobei feel like home again. He had spent his spare time assisting with cooking, building and had even begun to teach those he could basic Hitonara, particularly to children so they could communicate with their new found friends.  
“General! Commander! Look at this” he called from a far, he was stood on the edge of the old fountain that had miraculously survived the bombing. Togo and Shine turned their heads to look and he jumped down, a big grin on his face, and kicked something. The fountain sprung into life, gushing out water in great splashes.  
“You fixed that by yourself?” Shine called in utter disbelief. He nodded,  
“You can drink from it too!”

“He's a genius that man” Togo smiled as they continued on their way, passing the old shrine where Shine's aunt had lived.  
“He was always like that in school, top of every single class, took every single class as well” Shine smiled, “he was a bit of a weird kid but he's a nice guy.” Togo gave a quiet breath of laughter,  
“I hope he survives this, he'll be brilliant once the country gets back on it's feet.” Shine laughed,  
“He most definitely will, he's neutral as well so which ever side wins can take him on.”

They finally came to the gates on the other side of Caobei to see a car being driven up the old grey road. It was one of the army cars they must have stolen...then again no one really owned them once the country had been thrown into the civil war.  
“Wait a minute” Shine muttered, “Togo look! There's a massive lorry behind it.” Togo glared and could just make out the white lorry about 2 miles behind the car,  
“Damn, I really, really hope that's food and drink, I could do with some wine.” Shine burst out laughing, she was laughing to the point that she was doubled over holding her stomach.  
“Alright General, keep your hair on” Togo muttered, patting her back.

Finally the commie that Shine didn't want to see arrived at the gates of Caobei where she and Togo had been waiting. The heavy car pulled up, rattling as it did, perhaps the gas was running low or something had gone bust within. The door swung open and looked as if it was about to fall off as it smacked into the blacked out window and there was a scream of,  
“WATCH IT” from inside. Togo gave Shine a very apprehensive look, not quite sure what to make of the person. Shine returned the look by chewing on her lip and looking very doubtful. Yet Shine's apprehension was replaced by a dropped jaw as the person finally came into view. Of all the people they could send it was this guy? They sent Chip?

Shine couldn't help but stare at the familiar face, the only change was the amount of stubble on his chin had increased a bit. Neither of them quite knew what to do with each other. Did they go for a hug like they wanted to? No, that would be an incredibly stupid move. Did they bow as was the social norm when meeting someone for the first time or whom you really saw? No, there had been too long of an awkward silence.

“I guess this is going to be awkward” Chip muttered, rubbing his forehead before turning his head and smiling, “it's been a while, Shine.” Shine laughed lightly,  
“It has indeed, Chip, you know honestly I didn't think they'd send you.”  
“Came as a surprise, I won't lie. It's nice to see you though.” Shine smiled a little, gave a sudden shrug and then hugged Chip as tight as was humanly possible. Chip blinked a little, staring out into the distance over her shoulder he was so shocked before grabbing her and swinging her round.


	23. Togo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick warning this chapter deals very heavily with sucidal thoughts and has a near attempt in it. If this makes you uncomfortable then please, miss it out.
> 
> If you feel like you are in a dark place with this, then please seek help or at least talk to someone who will not be unkind! I have been in similar situations before and Togo's description of it is the take on depression that I have dealt with. Trust me, speaking to someone helps so much it is unreal.

Togo stared at them in complete disbelief, though he felt bad about saying anything. Shine had been talking to him the night before and she'd told him she felt responsible for the deaths, she'd sent the suicide squad after all. A hug from an old friend was probably one of the best things for her. He even chanced a smile as he saw Shine attempt to pull away only to be pulled back in.

Yet through all of this, just watching these two old friends cling to one another in search of some comfort Togo felt his heart snap. He wished that Yosh was here, so he could to the same; so he could cling to some one whom he found reassurance in. Over the last eight years he had made his way through two others but neither had felt the same. None of them had those eyes, those eyes that were so full of happiness and love and everything you could ever wish for.

Just as he let out a gentle sniffle, doing his best to keep his tears back, Shine finally let go of the communist. She turned her head to see Togo with his bowed, pressing his thumb and forefinger against the inner corners of his eyes and shaking a little.  
“Togo?” She asked, blinking in surprise. This wasn't like him at all, he usually kept a straight face, he might give a fleeting smile from time to time. She looked back at Chip who gave her a little shove. Shine leant down a little while keeping her head up so she could look at Togo from further down than usual,  
“Togo?”

A single tear slipped down his cheek as the girl repeated his name. He remembered everything in a flurry. Seeing Yosh's body, there, lying so still, finally in some kind of state of peace. He remembered his knees hitting the ground and the gun lying in his lap. How much he had wanted to lift it and pull the trigger. How suddenly life had felt daunting, endless and only filled with pain. Then she had come along. She had torn that escape from his hands and tried so hard to give him something, anything to live for. Oh how she'd tried and how she'd failed. He could still lift it and pull the trigger now.

Yet once again she tried, refusing to give up and let him be. She wiped away the tears that came, each and everyone that threatened to fall she caught. She took his hand from his face and he could do nothing but stare at her, even though he wanted to be left alone he was begging for something, anything that he could hang onto. Everyone he had loved was dead, he was on the edge, clawing for help to stay alive yet would be more than satisfied if he fell. Yet she would never let him, she would hold him up and he knew that as she wrapped her arms around him and he didn't even think as he placed his chin on her shoulder and returned the embrace. She was something to cling to for now.

Chip stared at the two in bewilderment. He had never seen such a look of worry on Shine's face, neither one of sorrow. Yes she had certainly been much the same when in that cell but when given to another person it seemed to fill the air and consume everything. The way she wiped the tears from the man's face was so calm yet it turned her skin blue and when she embraced him she seemed to freeze. Chip could only wonder what sorrow could have befallen someone for it to freeze the air around him, to make it so hard to breath.

When they began their return to the tent atop of the hill in the view of what was once Menoa Shine held tightly onto Togo's hand, as if at any moment he would lose that thought of hanging on and she'd have to drag him back from the edge. As they passed him Shine sent Wei to deal with the food and drink that was being delivered, asking Chip if there was any wine. He nodded and added that there were also a few hundred packet of cigarettes, so Shine asked especially for a couple of bottles and a few packets. She knew Togo smoked, though she felt bad for continuing to give him a source sometimes it was just better to keep someone happy.

When they began their discussions of alliance Togo didn't have any input what so ever, he instead went to lie down. He didn't feel like he could even stand any more and guilt overwhelmed him. What right did he have to be so upset about a death that had happened almost 10 years ago when the very girl who was helping him had just lost her lover and father in only a few minutes. How dare he be so upset by something so old when people here were without safe haven, away from their home country in a hostile state of civil war. His 27 year old body ached with guilt and sorrow and everything you could ever hate.

“So, why exactly do you want to propose an alliance, even if it's temporary?” Chip asked, leaning across the table, darting from capitalist to communist to capitalist.  
“We want to get these people back to their home countries over everything else” Golden Boy answered, “we need to get them back before any of them are killed.”  
“If we don't, we'll be thrown into an international war and both of us know the country simply can't afford that” Hyuazaki continued, “if we did there's also the possibility of the west taking over the country, which none of us want, it's already happened to two of the other countries nearby and have you seen the state they're in?” 

“So you're suggesting that, even as capitalists, you'd like to keep the country closed?” Chip asked, frowning a little, he was getting very mixed messages here.  
“Perhaps not closed” Shine answered, and she threw Hyuazaki an angry glare, “but we'd like to keep it for ourselves. We lost 4.5 million soldiers and 2 million citizens trying to keep our country and I'd rather they didn't die in vain.” Chip could see the internal conflict now. Shine clearly hated this Hyuazaki man, and frankly as far as Chip was concerned he was an idiot.  
“How do you propose that would be done?” Chip asked. Shine mulled over it for a little, an uncomfortable silence following. Yet she came up with a haphazard answer,  
“I want to open up our universities to foreigners again, but our trade aught to be limited to those who are not under the influence of the west. We have survived well enough on our own resources, we should conti-”

Chip burst out laughing, he roared with laughter, having to clutch his stomach and hold himself up on the table,  
“Survived?” He barked, “Survived?! General we have done anything but survive! I always forget you were a richie, you never saw an empty plate until you were full did you?” Hyuuazaki wrenched his sword from his side and pointed it right at Chip, the sharpened tip only a few centimeters away,  
“This is an official governmental issue, not something for you to laugh about” he hissed.  
“Hyuazaki!” Shine yelled and the sword suddenly fell from Hyuazaki's hand, Shine had grabbed the back of his neck and pressed two of her knuckles against the top of his spine, “if this is official government stuff don't you damn well raise your sword in this room, you got that.” Though it seemed to pain him to say it he uttered a quiet,  
“Yes, General.” 

After the discussion Shine went to wake Togo up, to tell him what they had decided upon – a temporary alliance that might be terminated when all of the visitors had been returned to their own countries. When she came into the room of the tent he had Togo was all bundled up, clutching the blankets to him, only his head was visible and his hair had gone all messy again. She smiled and sat next to him, gently touching his cheek, running the back of her forefinger down his stubbly cheek,  
“Togo” she whispered, “Togo, wake up.” She smiled at him as his eyes opened a crack, as if he were glaring at her for waking him from his slumber. He sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes,  
“Is something the matter?” He yawned.  
“We've decided what we want to do” Shine smiled, “we're going to have a temporary alliance until the foreigners are all home. If we're lucky we can sort something out, and the war will be over.” He smiled back,  
“That's good to know, we can finally forget all of this.”

Surprisingly Chip decided that he'd stay with the 4 capitalists in the tent, sharing a room with Golden Boy who had a few extra blankets lying around. The night that followed was full of drinking and pure idiocy, something that they shouldn't have done but all needed. 

The five of them passed wine bottle after wine bottle between them, they had no glasses to drink from. They ate away at what they should have eaten hours before, having saved it all so they didn't kill themselves with all the booze. Togo began chain smoking, occasionally breaking into mad fits of laughter from no where. Shine comfortably sat herself in Chip's lap, from time to time Chip would grab her hips and grind against her before returning to normal. Hyuazaki and Golden Boy were just out of characterly hanging off each other, no one quite sure why.

“Shine, come outside with me” Togo said, standing up and grabbing his second box of cigarettes. Chip let her go and she stood up and followed Togo out. In the cool fresh air all the fatigue left Shine and she stopped for a moment, just inhaling the purity that seemed to hand about her. Togo smiled at her and offered her a cigarette, which she declined,  
“I would, just can't stand the taste.” Togo shrugged and lit his own, pocketing the packet,  
“That communist kid, I reckon you two are going to end up fucking.” Shine rolled her eyes,  
“Wow, big surprise.” Togo gave her a glare,  
“Listen to me, you go have sex with that guy fine, whatever. Just keep it to your fucking self alright” he warned her, grabbing her arm far too tight.  
“Why would I tell anyone” Shine snapped back, tugging her arm from his grip, “what's your problem.”  
“Oh nothing, go on, off you go kid” Togo replied.

Shine turned around to go back inside before whirling round and ripping the gun from Togo's hands.  
“WHEN WILL YOU GIVE THIS UP?!” Shine screamed at him.  
“WHEN I'M DEAD” Togo roared back. Shine kicked him in the shin so he collapsed and then straddled his stomach, leaning down so she was only a couple of inches from his face,  
“As long as I'm alive you're staying alive” she hissed, “I won't let you throw your life away because of Yosh.” She leant closer to him so her lips were practically pressed against his ear,  
“He'd hate you for it.”

“Let me die” Togo mumbled quietly, tears beginning to cascade down his face and onto the floor, “please, just let me die.” Shine shook her head and stroked his cheeks, wiping away tear after tear once again.  
“I can't Togo” she whispered, “I just can't. You're the most important person to me. I don't want to lose anyone else. So what if I end up fucking with the communist, it won't mean anything, we think too differently. Togo you're a parent, a brother, everything I've always needed.” As the word needed fell from Shine's lips Togo seemed to freeze before slowly reaching up and touching Shine's face. She stared back, confused.  
“Shiro, you really don't need me.”

“I need you Togo” Shiro insisted, diving at him and enveloping him in a hug, “I need you, I need you, I need you.” Togo simply lay there, as if he had already pulled the trigger.   
“If it wasn't for you so many more people would be dead, you've saved countless lives without even thinking about it. You're the one who took care of me whenever I did something stupid. Remember that time I was almost cut to ribbons by one of the other trainees and you were the one who looked after me. Or that time I accidentally shot myself in the arm? It was the same.” Shiro leant down, resting her face against his neck, her tears soaking him, “please, say something. Please, I don't want you to die. I love you too much to lose you.”

Togo slowly lifted his arms and wrapped his arms tightly around Shiro, why did she bother? Why did she have to be so resilient in keeping him alive?  
“I love you too” Togo replied, “I love you too Shiro. I just can't hold on any more.”  
“You can! You can!” Shiro insisted, “please, I want you to, I need you and I will always need you.”  
“You won't, once this is over, we'll go our separate ways and we'll never see each other again.” Shiro pulled away a little,  
“Togo...I...I...I don't understand! Why do you hate yourself so much that you want to die?!”

“Shiro have you ever felt that all you're doing with your life is just watching paint dry? It's as if anything you do just doesn't help anyone, sometimes you end up hurting people instead. Even those you love, you feel a burden to. I felt like this before the war happened. Yosh changed that, if I'm zwith him then I won't feel as bad any more.” Togo's explanation only seemed to make Shiro cry more,  
“But I don't think you're a burden! All you've ever done is help me. Please, if you really must go, stay until this is all over.”  
“I'll try” Togo answered.

“Who was that you were all of a sudden declaring your love to” asked a voice. Togo had since gone to bed and Shine was sat outside, ignoring the taste of cigarettes and smoking her way through the box he'd given her.  
“It wasn't the kind of love you're thinking of” Shine replied. Chip sat next to her and took the cigarette from her had and stubbed it out, then taking the box from her pocket and chucking it away. It landed next to Togo's gun. He then took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“What is that guy to you?” He asked, slipping an arm around her waist   
“Well, I've never had a brother but I reckon if I did it then it'd be him” Shine smiled.  
“I don't think you quite know how much of a pain brothers can be” Chip laughed. Shine smiled,  
“This is your coat, isn't it” she asked. Chip frowned and tugged one of the sides open,  
“Well, that's my family crest.” Shine smiled and pulled out the picture,  
“You left this in the pocket.”

Chip stared at it, he'd always wondered where this had gone, it had never occurred to him that he'd left it in the coat he'd given to Shine.  
“Thank you” he mumbled quietly, tracing the faces and desperately wanting to rewind time, to go and stand on that bridge again and then carry on, without the war happening at all. He'd still be poor and have to work day and night by now but he'd still have his family. Tears came to his one eye and he pushed the picture back into Shine's hands,  
“Give it back to me when the war's over, alright.” Shine sighed and nodded,  
“I will, I promise.”

Chip pulled Shine to him and kissed her, really wishing he'd had a chance to shave at some point. However he decided that perhaps now wasn't the time and instead sat her on his lap and started asking questions.  
“So, did you tell that politician guy you loved him?” Shine nodded,  
“We ended up together, if you're wondering.” Chip gave a sad sigh,  
“He was at Menoa, wasn't he?” Shine nodded,  
“He refused to leave, even though I told him again and again. Dad was there too.”

“You're going to go back, aren't you” Chip continued, stroking her hair. Shine nodded,  
“I can't not go. Just...just in case they're alive. I...I...I need to know.”   
“You know for someone who seemed to be off their head with the alcohol before you've sobered up pretty quickly” Chip laughed, “do you mind if I go with you, to Menoa?” Shine sighed,  
“I've already said that I'll take Hyuazaki and Golden Boy...ugh I sound like a kid on a birthday trip” she rubbed her eyes, “listen, Chip, I need you and Wei to keep an eye on Togo.”

“Why would that be, he's hardly the type to end up being corrupt, granted he's a coward at heart but he tries at least” Chip frowned. Shine sighed,  
“He keeps trying to kill himself but I know he's best to leave in charge. I don't trust Hyuazaki enough and Golden Boy's someone, compared to those two, I hardly know.”  
“Shine I hate to challenge you because I'm sure you've got your reasons but leaving someone in charge who might top themselves at any second probably isn't the best idea” Chip warned her. Shine sighed,  
“I ain't got any other option for people who I trust. I think, if he's occupied with something he'll be a little better and we've still got our headsets. We haven't got a connector but I know how to patch them through without it anyway, if he gets like that just let me know and I'll talk to him.”  
“You're either a fool or you're too kind for your own good, perhaps both.”


	24. Menoa

Two days later Shine, Hyuazaki and Golden Boy were reloading their guns and fixing up their headsets.  
“Are you sure they'll work?” Togo asked, looking quite apprehensive. Shine nodded,  
“I managed to connect them all up to one that's in Menoa and we tested between us, they all work far enough and connect up to one another.”  
“Promise me you'll tell me when you get there then and when you're coming back and...and tell me if their grave is still intact” Togo insisted, hastily grabbing Shine's hands. She smiled at him,  
“I will, I promise” Shine reassured him, she leant up and kissed him on the cheek softly, “I'll see you later.”

“Girl you got something going on with Togo that we don't know about?” Golden Boy asked, back to his cheery self.  
“No...” Shine answered, a little worried that it had come across that way. Hyuazaki glared at Golden Boy and then turned to Shine,  
“That's not the important bit. We've got to get him his medication, he'll only get worse if we don't. I don't think it's too good you've left him in charge but I'd really rather not be taking him to Menoa.”  
“You know he'll get worse once he gets the pills back, don't you” Golden Boy reminded him, “we'll have to keep an eye on him day in and day out.”  
“I think we're all prepared to do that” Shine sighed, she was met by two nods and then silence.

As the car jostled them, moving along the rocky road to Menoa, Shine sat back in the silence, rather enjoying it. She'd also noticed that over the last two weeks Hyuazaki had some what grown on her again. He had been a little kinder to Togo and had left the grudge he held against the two of them to die. Shine could even vaguely remember the hug that he had given her that had woken her up. That had been nice.

“Shine, what are we going to do if they're still alive?” Hyuazaki asked after an hour, it was a four hour drive and the silence had long outstayed it's welcome.  
“I'm not sure” Shine sighed, “I'm already a little too sure” she stopped and glared at the two of them, “nothing that is said here leaves this car, alright?” The two nodded and hit over their hearts twice. Shine relaxed,  
“I'm already sure I don't want Goji in charge. I already hate him, I've been putting on quite the neutral face since I was a teen.” Golden Boy friend,  
“Why, has he done something?” Shine gave a sigh,  
“It wasn't the commies who bombed Caobei, it was the caps, it's just that they kept it under wraps and blamed the others.”

“Alright, okay, that happened, which raises the question as to why you and your Dad stuck around. Everyone knows Hanbei used to work for the communists, so why the hell did you stick around?” Hyuazaki asked, quite perplexed by this. He may have a particular dislike for the communists but this definitely made no sense.  
“Keeping each other alive I guess” Shine sighed, “if I defect, they'll kill him. If he defects they'll kill me, simple as that.” Golden Boy gave a short, sharp bark,  
“Neither of these sides are as good as they make themselves out to be are they.”

When the next three hours were finally over they got out of the car to see true destruction.  
“I bet this is what Caobei looked like, just after they got it” Shine sighed, she didn't know what had possessed her to do so but she had stitched up the skirt the night before and worn it. It was depressingly white against the once new now old city.  
“Well, it's amazing what they've done to Caobei, perhaps the same can be done for here” Golden Boy suggested with a smile.  
“Lets just go” Hyuazaki muttered.

The wandered through the fallen city in silence, a fire still burning here and there. Yet the birds twittered, rushing over their heads, going about their daily business. Shine wondered if they could see the sorrow that Menoa had become, if the birds that had woken her up on that morning before Caobei was destroyed knew how sad the country had become. Were they carrying on in the same desperation as the people were, or was it just a case of living for themselves. 

“We should go up to the house first, it doesn't look as messy as I thought it would” Shine sighed as they continued down Menoa's main street. They'd seen a few people but they had run from them as soon as they spotted the three. Shine couldn't blame them. So they continued on, up the hill towards the house. The front had crumbled and the left corner had tumbled down but it was largely intact. However the grass had been scorched and the garden walls had fallen to nothingness, the flowers in side nothing but ash.  
“At least the lilies survived” Shine muttered. Neither Hyuazaki or Golden Boy could tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

The city still rang with the sound of the festival, with cheers and laughs and shouts in all those different languages. Except this time Shine was almost happy to hear, to hear the ghosts of her memories. The festival had been a joy to her, she had truly seen foreign culture for the first time and, however old she got, it was probably something she was never going to forget. She suddenly found herself doubtful of having a closed country as a phantom draft of foreign baking pastries seemed to engulf them. It was poisonous if anything. They joy she had found in those books as she translated them...the food she'd eaten...the languages she had heard. How could anyone bare to cut themselves away from that?

Just as they reached the top of the steps someone opened fire and they had to quickly throw themselves to the ground before being shot.  
“Who's there?!” Yelled a voice, young and childish. Shine looked up, frowning, she was sure that was Jie.  
“Jie! Is that you? It's me, Shine, Hokana Shine!” She heard a clatter as the gun he'd been holding hit the floor and he burst into tears. Shine stood up and ran over to the fifteen year old, collecting him up in a hug and shushing him.  
“It's alright” she muttered into his hair, “no one's gonna hurt you. It's just me, Hyuazaki and Golden Boy. It's just us.” He carried on crying, his grip tightening around Shine as he pressed his face against her, soaking the clothes she was wearing with tears of utter wretchedness.

“Jie, what are you doing?!” Bellowed a voice, followed by a clatter of footsteps against the ground, where the dust still had not settled. Shine looked over at the owner of the voice and blinked a little,  
“Zhou?” He came to a standstill, looking quite surprised,  
“C-c-comander Hokana” he stuttered, “I...er...I...it's good to see you.” Shine gave him a little smile,  
“You too, Captain Ma.” Ma Zhou had been Cari's replacement and had been possibly the best for the job so knowing he had a survived put Shine's military mind to rest.

Zhou took them into the house, taking them straight to the main hall which was the only room that seemed to have genuinely survived. There were cracks along every other wall and doors had been blown off and windows smashed in just about every room them passed. Yet the great hall was still well, great. The only windows in the room had never been replaced from the first time the capital was bombed when Shine was still a teenager so the whole room was just wall. There were no cracks and the candle light bounced off the walls, turning them yellow rather than white.

Shine was staring at all the people stood around the table in the centre of the candle lit hall. Goji. Sooki. Hanbei. Hideo. They all stared back, Goji with his mouth half open, mid way through a word. Sooki's eyes were wide, so wide in fact that they looked as if they were about to pop out of her head. Hanbei's stare was blank with shock as usual. Hideo meanwhile looked like he was trying to say something but just couldn't get the words out.

He gave in the end and walked over to Shine and hugged her tightly, actually lifting her off her feet as he did. They took their time, just staring at one another, still in this seemingly endless state of shock.  
“I'm so glad you're alive” he muttered, his arms seeming to shake a little as his grip on her tightened a little, “I thought I'd lost you.”  
“I thought I'd lost you” Shine replied, pressing her forehead against his. 

“Ehem” coughed a voice. Hideo slowly lowered Shine down, she slowly turned and was suddenly dragged into a tight hug from Hanbei.  
“I was so worried about you” he muttered, he then gave a laugh, “I'd pick you up but I don't think these bones will hold out.” Shine laughed and then picked him up instead, to which he responded with great shouts of laughter and a demand that she put him down.

“Shine, what happened to your hair?!” Sooki asked, she was laughing but she looked equally shocked. Shine laughed and ran her fingers through it, it was still a little uneven, even though Golden Boy had done his best to sort it out.  
“I...well, I thought it was time for a change” she laughed and she could not keep the over powering grin off her face, forcing her eyes to shut and putting her teeth on show.  
“Well, it certainly needs some tidying” Sooki smiled, lifting her hand to her mouth and letting out a gentle giggle.

“Jersey!” Yelled Hyuazaki out of the blue and he was across the room in a second, picking up the 19 year old apprentice and swinging her round. She laughed and clung to him, taking his face in her hands and kissing him with such force everyone found they had to turn away. Goji cleared his throat,  
“I suppose these new arrivals will warrant a repeat of our intentions and possibly some changes in them. For now I may as well let you all talk and...do whatever you wish.”

To Hideo and Hanbei's surprise Shine didn't go to either of them first but instead said that she was going to get something for Togo. The back of the house was largely intact and Shine raced up the stairs and along the never ending corridor to his room. She knew they'd be there. 

Togo's room was very clean which Shine hadn't really expected, he was the type who seemed to laze around a little when he didn't actually have to do anything. However it was very neat and all his draws were labelled and the fish tank was still bustling with life, someone must have been in to feed the fish. His bedsheets were a dark blue colour and his walls were white washed with writing all over them in his rather tidy handwriting. There were quotes on them, as if they were there to keep him going. 

Shine gave a little smile and then started searching for the tablets that made Togo well, Togo. She checked the two bedside tables and their draws but there was nothing. Then behind the pictures of Togo and Yosh standing in their new army uniforms, on their last day of school together and on their first always stood back to back. Funny, who knew that Togo used to have braces. Shine then checked through all the draws and found nothing, though she did get the bag out from under his bed and pack a few clean clothes for him – hoping it might make him feel a little better to have them.

“They're in his pillow case” said a voice. Shine jumped and whirled round to see Zhou stood in the doorway. Shine gave a confused frown but nevertheless stuck her hand in the pillow case and found her hand closing round three packets, one half used up and the others completely unused.  
“Thanks” Shine smiled. Zhou smiled back, although his smile seemed to fade a little,  
“I suppose he's not been too good then?” Shine shook her head,  
“He's been anything but good. He's tried to well...you know, a couple of times. I wanted to keep an eye on him myself but I didn't want to bring him here, just in case it was horrendous.”

“I see. I feel sorry for the man, he's got a good heart but he's not built for combat” Zhou sighed, he then walked across the room and picked up the three pictures, his eyes focusing on the top one, “he was one of those kids who thought the army was going to be so much fun. He actually volunteered, he and Yosh did anyway, the rest of us got conscripted. Then he found out what a nightmare it is and he changed. Man he changed.”  
“You knew him before all this?” Shine asked.  
“Yeah, he was in the year above me at school. We're actually from here, this placed used to be called Ancho but they changed it because Menoa has more meaning apparently” Zhou answered, “he moved out when he was 16 and when I got kicked out for being gay I moved in with him so yeah, we knew each other.”

There was a sudden buzzing sound in Shine's ear and she jumped. Oh no she had completely forgotten to tell Togo they'd got here fine. She quickly flicked on the headset.  
“Hey” said a weak voice, “you get there?”  
“Togo I'm sorry I...I...I” Shine couldn't get the words out as tears welled up in her eyes for no apparent reason.  
“It's alright Shiro” he replied. Even though he was so far away Shiro could feel his smile, so weak and limp just like his voice.  
“What happened to you?” Shiro asked.  
“I guess I just had to give in. Goodbye Shiro. I love you.” 

The headset then cut off and Shine then collapsed on the bed, the tears spilling down her cheeks. Zhou, who had been stood in the doorway rushed over to her and pulled her up so she was sat up. Shine leant her head forward, tears falling into her lap where the three packets lay. So useless. So utterly, utterly useless. If only she'd been quicker. If only this had never happened. If only the entire war had never happened.

“What happened?” Zhou asked, having let Shine rest her head on his shoulder.  
“It was Togo” she mumbled, having exhausted her tears but most definitely not calmed down, “I made him promise me that he'd try hang on until the end of the war. I don't think he did. He said goodbye. He hates saying goodbye.”  
“Commander?” Zhou repeated. Shine shook herself,  
“It's alright Captain,” she sighed, dragging herself up to stand, “I'll need to talk to everyone. Now. We'll need to go back if Togo's dead, otherwise a commie's in charge.”

“You what?!” Goji shouted at Shine when she gave the situation.  
“I had no other choice!” Shine barked back, “if they found us they would kill us all, foreigner or not. That would get this country destroyed. Easily.”  
“And what will peace with the communists bring?” Goji demanded in a low, threatening hiss.  
“It won't millions of people killed” Hideo yelled, glaring at Goji, “if you're more for millions being killed for the views then you're not worthy of your post.” Hanbei, who had remained silent through the entirety of the heated air fired his gun at the ceiling,  
“How about we stop arguing about it and get back before this Commie takes control.”

Shine could feel the anger boiling up inside her and she fought to keep herself from shaking. Hideo was much the same and she could see his fingers resting on the safety catch on his gun, clearly considering shooting Goji there and then. He had always been like this. Perhaps it was because he'd lived in one of the very capitalists countries, Hideo had occasionally described some of the streets. They stank of poverty and rang with the cries of the poor. Yet no one did anything.

Surely no one wanted a country like that.

With Hanbei's demand the remaining armed forces all gathered together and squeezed as many as they could onto the cars they had. The last of the fuel reserve, which was just enough, was used up and they were all set to go. Yet while all of this was being done Shine had gone to the last flowers that had survived. The lilies.

Shine had always hated lilies. She remembered them lining the walls as she wandered about the house after her mother's funeral fourteen years ago. They had haunted her since, always appearing in bad dreams and when the war came she had never seen so many. The flowers she had taken to Yosh's grave seven years ago had been lilies. She found their smell to be poisonous and the white seemed to blind her and bring tears as they pleased.

Yet still she seemed drawn to them, the poison was a pleasant smell. Being blind was worth their melancholic beauty. Even now as she picked the remaining two, side by side in the otherwise burnt gardens, she couldn't help but stare at them. Even as her heart ached they seemed to keep her standing in the freezing air. They seemed to sooth her as she held one in each hand, pressing them to her heart as she went down the hill to the cemetery. 

It had grown since Yosh had been laid to rest there. Make shift stones made by ex-crafts men stood row upon crooked row. Cari was there too and Shine wished she knew where she was. Her family hated Shine to the end of the earth, understandingly, and had never told her. Anyway she had no time to look, perhaps some other day. So she made her way through the crooked teeth that some how remembered those they had lost to one at the the far end.

“Hey Yosh” she sighed, kneeling down, “thanks for everything.” She began dusting off the vase Togo had taken from his room. No flowers had been put in there for a while so it was buried about the grass and took a sharp tug to get out.   
“Togo's not been well recently” she continued, stripping the flowers of their leaves and then of the small bumps they left behind, “so I think he's with you now.” Shine placed the flowers in the vase and smiled lightly,  
“I'll miss you both, but thank you for everything you've done for me.”


	25. Akai

“Shine! Come on!” Hanbei shouted from the bottom of the hill, followed by a hacking cough and a quiet complaint about overusing his lungs. Shine placed a gentle hand on the top of the grave stone and then ran down the hill as Hanbei got into the car. Shine jumped on the back, along with Hideo, Hyuazaki and Jersey. Her hand suddenly gripped the packets that she had found for Togo, realising that she had kept them as some last glimmer of hope. You better be alive.

Just as she sat down they set off and the four of them found themselves being tossed around as they made their way down the now rather holey road out of Menoa and towards Caobei.  
“You think they did this on purpose?” Jersey asked, glaring at the blacked out window.  
“Who's complaining” Hyuazaki replied, slipping an arm around the apprentice's waist.   
“Please don't” Hideo sighed, taking hold of Shine's hand, “we'd rather not witness anything like that.”

Eventually they swapped sides and while Hyuazaki and Hideo discussed politics Jersey and Shine attempted to get to know each other.  
“So, where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?” Shine attempted to start off conversation.  
“London, it's the world political capital. It's in England” Jersey answered.  
“I take it you were living here before the war started” Shine continued. Jersey nodded,  
“My Step-dad's half Hitoan so I came to live over here with his family for a bit and, well I lost contact with them.”  
“I'm sorry” Shine sighed, looking at her feet.

“What about you then?” Jersey smiled, “where are you from?”  
“I was born and raised in Caobei” Shine smiled back, “then obviously it got blown to bits.”  
“Is it strange being back there now?” Jersey asked, “can you still remember the streets.” Shine laughed and nodded,  
“Every back alley, every corner, all of it. It is a little strange though yes, it's like walking through a mildly bad dream from your childhood. Everything's very familiar but at the same time you're almost ten years older and something has gone horribly wrong.” Jersey gave an awkward laugh and the conversation essentially died a death there.

As they neared Caobei they found themselves being thrown around all the more as Zhou did his best to avoid the potholes from the bombs but it hardly did any good.  
“This must be killing Dad” Shine muttered, though she gave a little laugh. Hideo smiled at her – well he attempted to anyway, he was a little green. The next second they were all thrown from their seats and there was a scream of,  
“SORRY!” From a very disgruntled Zhou.

Shine completely changed the second she was out of the car and back into Caobei. She had been smiling a little as they'd come here but as soon as she was all serious faced and frantic.   
“I'll run ahead” was all she said before she literally started running ahead. She raced her way through Caobei, causing quite the surprise to many of the people who were temporarily living there. Wei tried to shout her as she went past the fountain, which had become his haunt, but she didn't listen and carried on to the small mound the tent was on.

Chip was waiting for her at the bottom and he managed to grab her. She struggled against him and tried to kick him,  
“Let me go!”  
“Alright grim reaper, calm it” Chip snapped, hugging Shine against him as she tried to get out of his arms.   
“Let me go see Togo” Shine insisted, not giving up the fight at all. Chip kept a tight hold of her, not saying anything any more, just waiting for her to tire herself out.

When she eventually did she had burst into tears and Chip finally let her go. She shook as her feet touched the ground. Chip nodded to her as she took a step towards the built in wooden steps on the hill. He stared after her as she made her way, now very slowly, up the hill. He could see her hand was still clasped tight around something. She passed Golden Boy on the wooden slats but they said nothing to one another.

Shine was quiet as she pushed up the tent door and almost collapsed when she saw Togo. He was lying on one of the mats, heavy purple bruises on his neck and much more pale looking than ever before. Shine slowly sat beside him, her hands still tight around the packets that she had saved as a last glimmer of hope. That glimmer was so faint now...

Shine gently rested her head against his chest, just to see, to listen, if he was still alive. The tears from before had run dry by now but as she listened she burst into another flurry of tears. She sat up and gently stroked his cheek, tears still running freely. She gently touched the bruises on his neck, it was as if his skin had become rubber. Yet she smiled as she leant down and pecked him on the cheek. Togo smiled, though still only just shifting from the boundary of life and death, he let a smile go.

Togo was alive.

They saw Chip off later in the day, with all the official files and documents that brought about the peace treaty.  
“Maybe next time I'll see you we won't be fighting any more” he smiled, his hand brushing against Shine's. She drew her hand away quickly, she wanted to take his hand but she couldn't. Hideo was alive.  
“I hope so” she smiled back, “thank you, for being so...so...I'm not really sure how to phrase it.”  
“Not being a murderous bastard and therefore killing you all and destroying any hope you had?” Chip suggested. Shine laughed,  
“Something like that.” 

Dinner that night was small and not something Goji was used to. He was beginning to tire Shine out considerably.  
“I feel like booting him off the throne now” Shine muttered, stood outside with Hideo and Togo who was making a steady recovery and, according to Mabs who had also survived and turned up saying “well actually before all this happened I'd done a degree in mental health” just out of the blue, was probably able to start taking the medication again some time soon.   
“I know what you mean Shine” Togo sighed, his hands never quite left his throat.  
“I'd do it you know” Hideo muttered, looking up at the stars, “I really would.”

“I'm calling it” Togo sighed when he'd finished his cigarette – he'd been told not to smoke but he couldn't help himself. He ruffled Shine's hair,   
“Get Sooki to tidy that up. Night you two.”  
“Night Togo” Shine smiled. Hideo said nothing, just continued looking up. Shine glanced at him before taking a couple of steps forward. She gently slipped her hand into his, making him jump.

“I know it's late” she sighed, “but I'm sorry, for slapping you.” Akai shook his head,  
“It's alright. You were angry and I put people in danger.” Shiro moved round so she was in front of him and took his other hand,  
“But I hit you I don't have an excuse” Shiro snapped, “I don't deserve you.” Akai smiled at her,  
“Shiro listen to me. I've let it go, I mean if it happens again maybe not but for now, just let it go.” Shiro tried to say something but shut her mouth again. He leant forward and rubbed his nose against her's,  
“That's my girl. Come on, lets go for a walk.”

It was pleasantly cool that night, not stopping them huddling together for warmth. They kissed and cuddled most of the night away, sat by the filthy river that ran along the side of Caobei and into the sea. It was a beautiful night, the moon and stars taking the stage and casting light on the couple, nothing more than silhouettes. 

“Shiro” Akai said, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet, “I have something to ask you.” Shiro frowned at him, still looking some what confused after he'd given her a quick peck on the lips. He took the most important thing in the world to him out of his pocket, he'd been holding onto it since the festival, hoping that he might be able give to her. So he got down on one knee, having prepared for this god knows how long,  
“Hokana Shiro, will you marry me?” Shiro appeared to have burst into tears and nodded, not able to get any words out. Akai smiled and stood, pushing the ring onto her finger and then kissing her.

“Shh, shh” Akai smiled as Shiro grabbed his arm, her back arching as her nails dug into his skin. He gently kissed her as her hips jutted, clinging onto him ever tighter, gentle noises escaping every few seconds. He pulled away slowly and watched her as she shook and shivered.  
“Aren't you beautiful.”

“Shiro, would you like to run away with me?” Akai asked, a gentle arm around her shoulders.  
“Where would we go?” She replied, playing about with his fingers.  
“I don't know, just away form here. Perhaps we could go to the communists seen as they sound so much better. I don't know, just away” Akai sighed.  
“I'd like that” Shiro smiled, “perhaps we could go from the country. I want to see the world.”  
“Don't we all” Akai laughed, “I'll take you to where I used to live and we'll go to all the countries the people here are from. I promise you.”

Togo yawned, he was exhausted but his body refused to sleep and his neck was bothering him again. Deciding that it was probably best to give in for a little he got up and decided to walk around a little. Just as he got to the bottom of the wooden steps he saw someone, running with a gun in hand. He glared at the silhouette and followed it, jogging to keep the person in view but also so he wasn't spotted – he didn't really feel like having a gun pointed at him right now. He then caught sight of Hideo and Shine. Shine had just given Hideo a light push and they were both laughing. He seemed to be asking her something. Then he recognised the person with the gun, a light illuminating their face for a single second. Yet still he knew. He knew exactly who they were.

“We'll get rid of Goji, tomorrow” Akai decided. Shiro frowned at him,  
“How will we do that?”  
“I brought a poison with me” Akai answered, “I've had it for years so it's probably deadlier than it used to be. Goji used it on the old communist leader, I've been thinking of giving him a taste of his won medicine.”  
“That's a very sly thing to do” Shiro remarked, but she laughed, “Alright, we'll get rid of him.”

“Come meet me here tomorrow and we'll run, alright?” Akai smiled, standing up, now fully dressed.  
“Alright” Shine laughed, rubbing her nose against his and giggling stupidly. Akai pecked her on the lips and then took her hand. There was suddenly a loud crack noise and Akai stepped slightly to the side. A second later he collapsed, knocked over by something. 

Shine immediately dropped to her knees, trying to plug the wound but that only seemed to make it worse. With the more cries of pain he gave she gave in and tried to lift him. Yet while she was strong enough to lift the stick her Father was Hideo was a completely different story and she took time in getting him off the ground.  
“Come on” she mumbled, taking a step as Hideo tried to make himself heavier.  
“Shiro, it's fine” Hideo mumbled, he then placed as much of his weight on her as he could and she collapsed. She tried to protest but her words came out fractured and nothing more than a stutter.  
“It doesn't matter. By the time you get me there I'll have bled to death” Hideo smiled.  
“Then for the love of all above stop smiling” Shiro snapped, finally managing to form a sentence.

It just had to miss, didn't it? If it had been slightly to the left it would have killed him instantly. Well you can't get lucky with everything, even your own death. Akai reached up and gently touched Shiro's cheek, still smiling even though he had begged her not to. If only a year could pass between the last hour and now. Then they'd be married. He wouldn't be dying. The war might even be over. His vision began to fade and he suddenly grabbed at Shiro,  
“Help me!” He shouted at her, his voice nothing more than a whisper, “help me! Help me! Help me!” Shiro stared down at him and his grip slackened. His hands fell, his voice faded and his heart stopped. Tori Akai was no more.


	26. Run, Death, Run!

“It's alright, come on, it's alright” Togo sighed, gently rocking Shine back and forth, holding onto her tightly as she sobbed into his shoulder. He wanted to tell her who had done it but perhaps giving that away would get her killed as well, never mind himself.  
“T-Togo would...would you be m-mad at me, if I l-left?” She asked, pulling away, tears still falling freely. He shook his head and wiped the tears off her face,  
“I wouldn't.” Shine snuggled back into his shoulder and he took to stroking her hair.

“Is this what it was like, losing Yosh?” Shine asked when she simply couldn't cry any more.  
“I suppose it was” Togo answered, still holding onto her tightly, “you don't deserve this.”   
“The future doesn't care about that” Shine mumbled. Togo sighed, she was right. What was going to happen didn't care about that, it didn't even have a conscious mind. He didn't want her to leave but he could see that all of this had pushed her too far, if she didn't leave now she'd end up just like him.

“Where will you go then?” He asked. Shine shrugged,  
“There was a town where I met someone, I might go back, find them again. Or I'll go somewhere with the foreigners, I'll get through some how.”  
“Or the commies?” Togo prompted. Shine nodded,  
“They're my first choice.” Togo gently tipped her chin up and studied her face, so tear stained and broken.  
“You can if you want” she sighed, “it won't make a difference.” Togo sighed and gently pressed his mouth to hers, running a hand through her hair. He then immediately pulled away,  
“I can't Shine, it's wrong.” However he pecked her on the nose and hugged her again.

Akai didn't get any special treatment or even a grave. His body was burnt and ashes spread over the filthy river. Shine did however go about the town with Wei and Togo in the middle of the night, looking for five stones to place a top of one another as some kind of memorial. Wei was outraged by what had happened, it clicked with him straight away that Akai had been outright murdered by his own side. He badgered on about it as they walked through town until Togo angrily told him to shut his mouth before he did it for him. Shine, who Togo was carrying round on his back, had hidden her face in Togo's neck and begun to cry.

Togo meanwhile hated that he knew who had done it because he couldn't bring himself to tell Shine. He didn't want to inflict more pain on her and possibly get her killed for killing the person. He didn't question her, he knew that she'd do it the very second he told her. So he did his best to just comfort her whenever she needed it, like she had tried to do for him when Yosh had died. He was only repaying her in kind.

He did a couple of times think about doing it for her, getting rid of the killer. She'd done that for him at only fourteen. He was twenty seven and had fought in more battles than he wished to count, why couldn't he do it? Anyway, it's not like it would particularly matter if he died, sure Shine would be upset but probably less so than she would be if he did it himself. 

“Are you going to keep it?” Togo asked as Wei was trying to organize the five stones in size order. He took her hand and gently ran his thumb over the small stone on the ring. Shine nodded,  
“It's all I have left now, they burnt everything with him.” Her knees suddenly gave out and Togo grabbed her, pulling her up and pressing her to him,  
“Alright, come on now, keep your feet” he said, doing his best to keep her upright.

Togo suddenly found himself wanting to go with her. Goji had, without question, murdered Shine's soul. That was the other thing about Togo, he desperately clung to old beliefs that a soul and physical body were separate beings. Shine was very much alive, her heart was beating and her brain worked fine yet she could hardly stand or talk. Yet he had something else to give her. Togo gently began to sing to her.

You have lived a thousand lives  
And in each, I have kept you safe and sound  
And I will never let you go  
I will never let you walk alone

However far you wonder, child of the earth  
I will keep you safe from all harm  
A thousand more are ahead  
I will keep you safe and sound

So lay down your head  
Let all your troubles leave  
Rest well, till the sun does rise  
I will keep you safe and sound

Wei had stopped and took to staring at Togo, surprised the man had done such a thing, he didn't seem the type. He listened to the song and found itself suddenly stuck, never to leave his mind. Shine meanwhile held onto Togo, her tears stopped by his song. She could feel his heart thumping against her ear, this song must have meant the world to him.

They left the stones where they were, piled on top of one another – some kind of monument to the deceased that had been so ruthlessly taken. As soon as Shine returned she went to find Akai's things and started looking for the poison that he had mentioned. She knew it was in a long acting bottle but it was short acting so it'd be black rather than green. She'd honestly thought that poison use was dead but if it was going to get rid of Goji then she'd definitely try it.

Shine found the little bottle tucked away in some spare clothes he'd manage to throw in a bag before they left. Perfect. She checked the contents and realised that this was quiet the gruesome killer indeed and shivered at the thought of what had happened to the old communist leader. She had known him briefly, and he had seemed a lovely man and his son and daughter had been friends of Shine's. Goodness knows what would have happened to them. Goji was definitely getting a taste of his own medicine, just what a cold blooded killer deserved.

Shine then took Akai's gun and cartridges and his sword, as well as the picture of them kissing in the flower garden. Shine smiled as she looked at it, surprising herself with the lack of tears. Memories...memories were good.

Next she decided that she'd go and apologise to Togo. They shouldn't have kissed on that night and Shine felt as if she had put pressure on him to do it. Anyway, she'd have little time to spend with him.  
“Togo” she whispered. He jumped and turned to look at her,  
“Can you try not to scare me next time?” There is no next time.  
However Shine forced a smile and came and sat beside him, he was lying down reading a book that Hanbei had brought.  
“Togo..about kissing you that night. I'm sorry” Shine sighed, feeling her cheeks colour.  
“It's alright” Togo smiled, “it's my fault, I shouldn't have.”  
“But I pressured you” Shine mumbled. Togo frowned at her,  
“You really didn't” he shook his head, “anyway, what's bothering you?” Shine didn't say anything.

Togo sighed and sat up,  
“You're really going, aren't you?” Shine nodded and Togo pulled her into a hug,  
“I'll miss you.” Shine wrapped her arms tight around him,  
“You've got to hang on, alright?”  
“I promise I will” Togo nodded, his grip tightening on her for a second before he pulled away.

Togo gently stroked her cheek and smiled,  
“Look at you, you've grown up so much.” Shine went a bit red and stopped his hand. Togo then gave a gentle, breathy laugh,  
“I'm proud of you, Shiro.” Immediately her head shot up, staring at him in shock. No one had ever said that to her, not even her Father. Tears welled up in her eyes and she practically threw herself at him, hugging him so tight he could hardly breath.  
“I'm going to miss you so much” she mumbled into his shoulder, “I wish you could come with me.”  
“I would if I could Shiro, I would if I could” Togo muttered.  
“Can you do one thing for me?” Shiro asked, pulling away. Togo gave her a gentle smile,  
“Just...just make sure they don't kill my Dad.”

Goji pulled the last straw the next day, and it was certainly the short one. He decided that it was no use feeding all these foreigners if he had to with stand a smaller meal than usual. So he ordered that all of the food be brought up to the tent and eaten there.  
“Ah, commander, or should I say General” he laughed as he carved his way through the last of the meat. Shine did her best not to shot him on the spot. The promotion meant nothing to her, if anything it made her feel worse.  
“Yes?” Shine replied, her hand tightening on the little bottle in her pocket.  
“I was thinking, seen as you seem so good at it, you aught to take over as the prefect of the same village Hideo was in charge of” Goji answered, his mouth full. Shine wanted to vomit,  
“I suppose I could.”   
“Excellent! Excellent! Now, would you pour me some wine.”

Shine took her chance, it was no hero's move, if anything it had come far too easy but it was a chance nevertheless. She went to the table the wine bottle was on, along with the glasses, another frivolous thing that had been brought from Menoa.  
“You wouldn't mind if I poured myself a glass would you?” Shine asked, she knew Goji's habits and didn't want to get herself killed trying to kill him.  
“Oh, go ahead, go ahead” Goji answered with a shrug and a wave of his hand. Shine emptied the last of the wine into two glasses, only just managing to fill them both. She then poisoned her glass before taking them over to Goji. 

Just as Shine was about to take a sip of her own Goji stopped her,  
“I'm sure you know this General, the most important drinks first” Goji reminded her. Shine set the cup down and pushed it to Goji,  
“Then please have my glass as an apology, in fact have them both.” Goji frowned at her but continued. He drank his down in two gulps easy before moving onto Shine's glass. Shine did not watch him but instead turned to clearing away his now empty plate.

She was suddenly grabbed as a gagging noise came from Goji's throat.   
“You...you...” Goji was a bright scarlet and Shine stared in fake surprise and wrenched his hand from her.  
“Sir are you quite alright?!”   
“You” Goji wheezed, “you did...did this.” He then collapsed, face down on the table and Shine screamed and ran out,  
“GOJI HAS BEEN POISONED!” Over and over again.

People came running and to her surprise they declared him dead, decided against doing a post mortem and just left him. Even Sooki wasn't upset and she suddenly dropped quite the impressive façade,  
“Shine, you listen to me, never marry a man for his money. It's a really bad idea.” That was the last time Shine ever saw Sooki. 

However Hyuazaki caught on to what Shine had done and waited for her.

Shine made off quickly, now was the time to run. She ran to her room, grabbed the two guns and Akai's sword and cartridges. She put on Chip's coat and clashed with her Dad on the way out.  
“Where do you thi- oh my gosh, you didn't.”  
“Sorry Dad, love you” Shine replied, giving him a rather painful kiss on the cheek before running out of the back and down the hill. Hanbei gave a sigh and merely looked at her running, wishing her luck. He then gave a cough and turned away.

She passed Wei as she ran down the main street and he stared after her – he'd certainly never seen her run that fast when they were in school. Just as she passed Togo he dragged her into an alley and shoved her against a wall.  
“What the hell do you think you're doing?!” He hissed at her, “leaving like that? Everyone will know.” Shine sighed and looked away.  
“Here, idiot” Togo sighed, pushing a small bag of money into her hand, “it's some of my savings from my pay, should get you food and that when you need it. Go out the western gate down here, Hyuazaki's waiting for you at the Eastern and I promise you he is out for blood.”  
“Togo come with me” Shine said, grabbing his hands and trying to pull him with her. He glared at her and gave her a shove,  
“Go you stupid girl!” Yet he pulled back, smacked a kiss on her lips and then sent her off again. 

Shine rushed through the Western gate but was met with Hyuazaki anyway, he'd guessed she'd go that way and changed his mind.   
“Why did you kill him?!” He screamed at her, lifting his sword the very second he saw her. Shine quickly tried to counter attack, though luckily the rage consuming him made him miss.  
“I don't have time for this Hyuazaki” she snapped, bringing her sword up in a defensive position. He swung and she pushed him off as they clashed.  
“You didn't need to kill Goji. He didn't kill Hideo” Hyuazaki shouted.  
“I didn't kill him because of Hideo” Shine snapped, “now move aside Hyuazaki.” He took a swing at her, she ducked and then slashed across his stomach before bolting.

Chip yawned as he got up from his perch on top of one of the old houses, the cool ocean breeze blowing on his face. It had been almost a fortnight since the General and leader of the caps had been killed. They had a new one now, someone who simply called himself boss, seen as he was the boss of the war ministry before this all started. The new general was that despicable Hyuazaki man and Chip couldn't even begin to comprehend how much Shine was going through with this.

He stretched and just as he relaxed his arms his keen one eye spotted something in the distance. It was dressed all in black, and was stumbling about, short white hair blowing everywhere. Probably another straggler come to join them. Their numbers had been on the rise recently, since they signed the peace treaty and got all of the foreigners home, the last going yesterday. Curious as to who the person was he gave Chetso a yell, telling him to take his place as watchman, before getting down and jogging up the length of the village to meet the person.

“Hey! Who are you?” He yelled at them, not too far away. They looked up and Chip's jaw dropped, “Sh-Shine?! Is that you?!” He ran over to her, realising she must have been walking for days and days and picked her up.  
“Ch-chip?” She mumbled, squinting at him. He smiled at her,  
“That's me.” Shine leant into him, smiling a little, before falling asleep just like that.  
“Tired then?” He laughed.


	27. Oh Memories

“We don't do alliances” the woman smiled, even though she was backed against a wall with a sword against her throat.  
“Then I'll kill you here and now” Hyuazaki replied, he was sure the face was familiar. She laughed,  
“Like you have the guts to kill a woman.” He did though. Without a second thought he stepped back and swung his sword, slashing her throat to ribbons. Blood splattered across his body and face but he though nothing of it as he sheathed his sword. It was only when he was met with laughter that he panicked and lost his cool. He spun to see the woman again.   
“Material holographs, new invention, of course you wouldn't know would you, you're just a pawn in the big game. You'll be on the losing side, I'll warn you now.” Someone appeared behind her and grabbed her wrist, pulling it into the air. A glare set on the woman's face before she turned her face away. It was another one of the infected, just like Hyuazaki, except like him it appeared the man had fought off the infection. He let go of her after a second they turned and were going to disappear into the smog that surrounded every city.

It was his turn to laugh,  
“We'll simply have Hanbei put your little design into our equation to get rid of the rebels, simple as that.” The woman stopped and turned slightly, her brown eyes becoming very thin as she glared at him,  
“Who's name did you say?”  
“Hanbei” he repeated. The woman smiled, despite this Hyuazaki saw a pained look in her eyes,  
“Tell him good luck from an old acquaintance. The name's Shine.” Hyuazaki could only stare at her back as the two left. General Hokana Shine...

 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Mechanic yelled at his subordinate, hitting the back of her head, “giving him your name?!”  
“It's to our advantage” she smiled, not at all phased by a knock to the head, “Hanbei...I've not heard that name for a long time.”  
“Who is this Hanbei bloke?!” The Mechanic demanded.  
“Quieten down will you Bro, I've got a headache and yes I had it before you kindly thwacked me on the head” Shine snapped, “anyway if you're so damn bothered about it check my records. Gotta change them anyway, Dad's alive.”  
“Huh? Who?” The Mechanic asked.  
“For the love of!” Shine gave a sigh, attempting ot make herself calm, “my Dad's alive you moron!”

Back at the hideout Chip was waiting for them.  
“Hey Microchip” Shine sighed, rubbing her eyes, she still had that banging headache and was pretty sure that Mechanic's hit hadn't helped at all.  
“Hey Grim Reaper, looking pale as ever” he replied.  
“Piss off” she replied, rubbing her eye.

They clashed swords with a series of load metallic clangs and shot at one another, often only missing because they were taught to aim for vital spots but if you killed a comrade you'd get your own brains blown out.  
“Good as ever Grim Reaper” Chip laughed.  
“You too Microchip” Shine grinned, collapsing on one of the old park benches that they'd nicked a few years ago. The paint was flaking and green covered the grey ground, adding a little colour to their world. Chip, or microchip as she had gotten into the habit of calling him, tossed a bottle of water to her which she drank in almost one gulp. Her throat was dry from the hours of travelling

“How you doing then, loser?” Chip asked, sharpening his sword.  
“Oh same as, same as” Shine answered, “I found out my Dad's alive though.” Chip gave her a little smile, she was hiding it but the joy she found in this little bit of information was evident.  
“How?” He asked, now wondering how she had got hold of that information.  
“I...I ran into Hyuazaki today” Shine answered, “I don't think he recognised me though.”  
“Considering the last time you saw him he was screaming at you that's quite a surprise” Chip commented, “I suppose you're not baby faced any more though.”  
“Oh be quiet will you” Shine replied, rolling her eyes. 

It had been almost 5 years since Goji and Akai had been killed and Shine was living a surprisingly comfortable life with the communists. She'd finally stayed put at 5ft 7” and generally nothing had really changed – aside from her apparently losing this baby face she was sure she'd never had. What came as a surprise however was that the communists weren't really communists. They were more...well, they wanted a combination of the two. In fact if anything they just wanted this entire war to be over so they could pack up and go and rebuild their homes. Shine couldn't blame them. 

There was no fancy meals, the only alcohol they got they'd either brewed themselves or it was stolen. No fancy dresses, you wore what you got and that was it. The only thing Shine missed was her books and sitting for hours on end, translating them. Though of course she missed Togo and her Dad and Wei, if he was even still with them she had no idea. She wondered if perhaps Togo had finally told Zhou he loved him, she had seen it immediately. Zhou and Togo were incredibly awkward around each other and Zhou would blush a little whenever Togo was even mentioned while Togo would begin to stutter. She wondered if her Dad's cough had gotten any better or if to this day it remained chronic. Then there was Wei. He had fallen in love with a lady from Luoyang, had he run off with her?

“Shine” said a voice, “Shine? SHINE!” Shine jumped and almost fell off the bench. Chip had been barking at her to get her attention and was glaring at her,  
“Yes?” He rolled his eye and shook his head,  
“Seen as it's your birthday tomorrow, I was wondering if you want anything?” Shine shook her head,  
“It's...it's alright, I don't need anything.”  
“No books? You do surprise me” Chip replied, sitting back, “suit yourself.”  
“Hey, don't be like that” Shine snapped, glaring at him, “honestly it's fine.” Chip smiled at her,  
“I'll get Han to make cookies.” Shine laughed,  
“He'll hate you.”

Dinners were very different and, if anything, Shine found herself much more comfortable having them because they were never much. The first two meals they had anyway were cold so everyone looked forward to the hot meal at the end of the day. There wasn't always meat in it but if there was none they'd give everyone one of these little packets of peanuts. Peanuts were cheap, a deal had sprung up since the foreigners had been sent back and one of the countries constantly supplied both sides with the source of protein so more money could be spent in the country on putting an end to the way.

Yet it was clear they were at their ends with money. Hardly anywhere was lit by electricity but rather candles that, once melted down, were scrapped up and reshaped into something usable again.  
All money went to developing new weapons and other technology to protect them, since the mass destruction of the Government the commies had been at their wits end. The bombs had cost all of their money and they'd found themselves unable to destroy them once and for all. The Government was now firmly on its feet again and the commies were all but burnt out.

That didn't stop them having their fun though, and they were hardly commies anyway. Mechanic, who was still in charge though the Government had gone through a leader already, had despised the secret police force and all that came with the old commies. Yet the Government seemed too...radical for his liking. Honestly though, most of the fun they had lay in exhausting their alcohol supply every two weeks.

As Shine sat down for as usual between Mimi and Chip she noticed something she always loved to notice. There were no children in uniforms. You generally had a uniform to wear if you were part of the armed forces, it was an ugly grey colour but Shine couldn't see any children wearing it. There was the odd one or two, Mimi and Chetso had a five year old who was sat between them, giggling and there was a thirteen year old orphan who seemed to have taken quite a liking to Chip. But there were no children in uniforms.

They ate away and once Shine had finished she took to leaning on Chip, it was cold. So very, very cold. Winter was harsh on the commies, they didn't have the materials to keep themselves warm – they only had their coats and Shine was wearing the one Chip had given to her.  
“Cold?” He asked, glancing at her as he finished off the last of the bread.  
“Maybe” Shine answered, “tired too.” He jostled her with his arm so he could move it and put his arm around her,  
“You're wondering about your Dad, aren't you?”   
“At least I know he's alive” Shine sighed, placing a hand on Chip's arm.

“Captain Hokana, Captain Data, come with me” demanded Lumo, second in command of the entire faction. Chip sighed, took his arm from around Shine and stood up, Shine soon following. They marched through the corridors before finding themselves until finding themselves in the white room that was the command room. Stood around the black table were Mechanic and Mal, the other two commanders.  
“Alright then” Chip said, leaning to one side and frowning at them, “what's the deal?”  
“Caps are coming” Mal sighed, “that's all we know.”

“MECH!” Screamed the voice of Pellek, who manned the only software that could track the air spaces, it wasn't put to use much but if it was they were in trouble.  
“What?” Mech yelled back, a rare look of panic crossing his usually void face.   
“They're in our air space. About 3 minutes away” Pellek answered.  
“RED ALERT RIGHT NOW” Mech screamed at him, “descend to lowest base. Chip, Shine, make sure everyone is down there. GO!”

Chip and Shine ran through the corridors,  
“You take the left, I'll take the right” Shine yelled as they rushed down the corridor towards the cafeteria.   
“You scared Shine?” Chip asked.  
“Of course I am but don't say that, right?” Shine snapped back.  
“You think I'm dumb?” Chip yelled at her.  
“Sometimes” Shine laugh.

People were already hurrying down the stairs as they came into the cafeteria, going down in twos and threes and sometimes illegal fours and ones. There were people screaming to old gods and praying for friends who were perhaps far off, else where.   
“That everyone?” Shine called from across the room as the thirty second warning was given.  
“That's all of them” Chip called back, “race you!” They ran down the stairs, knowing that the doors would close on them soon enough. Their feet clattered against the make shift stairs that had some how survived and met at the bottom.  
“Come on!” Lumo shouted at them. Chip grabbed Shine and pulled her through the closing doors. They flew through them and rolled a couple of times, breaking into giggles.

But their laughter was short lived, dragged to their feet by Lumo and Mal they were marched along to two beds,  
“We'll be here for the night, if not longer, who knows. Keep the kids company” Mal warned them. Indeed they were surrounded by the ten or so orphans who were within the communists' ranks. The thirteen year old orphan had a little boy sat on her lap, he couldn't have been more than three. They had no time to attempt to comfort any of them as a bang rang through the air, the ceiling shook and the cement that held up the cliff side shook and littered dust on them.

People screamed as the dust descended on them but the kids stayed silent, except for a five year old who had curled upon Shine was sniffling. Shine could only think of one thing to do as the bombs seemed to stop.

You have lived a thousand lives  
And in each, I have kept you safe and sound  
And I will never let you go   
I will never let you walk alone

However far you wonder, child of the earth  
I will keep you safe from all harm  
A thousand more lie ahead  
I will keep you safe and sound

So lay down your head  
Let all your troubles leave  
Rest well, till the sun does rise  
I will keep you safe and sound

And then the bombs began again. Shine kept on singing.   
Then Chip joined in, guessing the words.  
Then the teenager.  
Soon the entire room was a chorus of the song.

Still the room shook and dust fell upon the hidden people no explosion could be heard. Over the voices, all as one.

For two days they stayed in the bunker. Oxygen levels lowered, no one allowed out, rations low.  
“How you holding up?” Chip asked, running his hands through Shine's hair as he looked around.  
“Awfully” she sighed, “I hate it when we can't have proper water.” Chip smiled,  
“I've got just the thing for you” he mumbled, sitting down beside her.   
“Whisky?” She asked, “how did you get a hold of that?” Shine stared as he took the little bottle out of his coat pocket.  
“Well, we can't get everything legally now can we” he answered, handing her the bottle. He smiled at her as she struggled her way through the instructions on the back, translating them as she went through.  
“Thank you” she smiled, she knelt up and kissed him on the cheek. He laughed,  
“Happy birthday Shine.”

Shine made Chip have some of the whisky and though he protested he was glad she did. He knew in a few weeks time it was going to be the anniversary of Hideo's death and it still upset her, not that Chip could really blame her for this anyway. The very reason she had come to them was because he was dead, not even the thought of Togo had persuaded her to stay. Chip glanced at her as she drank some of the whisky and sighed. She looked so sad and tired and drained of life. He took the bottle from her, now feeling guilty for even giving it to her at all. He'd just made her worse. 

Chip pulled her to him, making her lay his head on his shoulder and gently ran his fingers through her hair. It was a little longer than it had been when she'd joined them but she seemed comfortable with this length and kept it that way.  
“Did...I” she gave in after two tries and just stayed silent, frowning at nothing in particular. Chip smiled and kissed her hair,  
“Perhaps we should try and get some sleep” he suggested with a quiet laugh.

They lay together in a comfortable silence, Chip on his back and Shine on her side. Even though they should have been sleeping they gave each other little smiles and Shine began tracing the lines on his hand.  
“That tickles” he laughed, trying to keep quiet so they didn't wake anyone else up. Shine smiled and placed her palm against his and clasped hands with him. Her ring dug into Chip's finger but he ignored it, he wouldn't complain – that was one of the most precious things in the world to her. 

“What I was going to say before” Shine sighed, lowering their hands and squeezing quite as tightly, “I was the one who killed Goji.”  
“Wow, didn't see that one coming” Chip replied, quite surprised indeed, but he kissed her forehead and grinned, “good on ya I say.” They slept well that night, using each other for warmth but mostly for comfort. Being in someone's arms felt safer than being surrounded by thousands _but she missed them more than anything._


End file.
